Search	The Work of San Casciano Val di Pesa, Museo di Arte Sacra :: Processional cross Tuscan Manifacture, Late 14th century - early 15th century :: Martyrdom of St. Lucy Giovan Camillo Ciabilli, Late 17th century :: Thurible Tuscan Manifacture, Dated 1775 :: Navicule Tuscan Manifacture, Dated 1775 :: Madonna and Child Gino Micheli da Castello, Dated 1341 :: Sculpted Column Master of Cabestany, Second half of the 12th century :: Chasuble Tuscan Manifacture, 16th century and late 15th century-16th century :: Cope Tuscan Manifacture, Late 17th century :: Madonna and Child Lippo di Benivieni, Second decade of the 14th century :: Coronation of the Virgin Neri di Bicci, Dated 1476 and 1481 :: The Archangel St. Michael and stories from the legend of his life Coppo di Marcovaldo, 1250-1260 ca. :: St. Anthony Abbot, St. Sebastian and St. Rocchus Master of Tavarnelle, 1510-1515 ca. :: Madonna and Child Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Dated 1319	.:. works .:. artists Coronation of the Virgin Dated 1476 and 1481 Neri di Bicci San Casciano Val Di Pesa, Museum of Religious Art Tempera on wood; 184 x 183cm. Source: Church of San Giovanni in Sugana   The tempera on wood with the Coronation of the Virgin is attributed to Neri di Bicci, a prolific Florentine painter who became the head of the very active family workshop from the mid 15th century.  The work was commissioned for the Parish Church of San Giovanni in Sugana by Giraldo dei Giandonati, Prior of the Signoria of Florence, which held the patronage of the church and, as the two dates on the rear of the painting seem to indicate, the work was started in 1476 and not completed until 1481. The altarpiece does not show the Virgin being crowned by Christ, as was usual in the traditional iconographic designs, but by God the Father, seated on a throne beneath an architected aedicola. Mary is kneeling before him ready to receive the crown, the emblem of the divine sovereignty. This interpretation of the traditional theme, that links the Coronation to Earth rather than being set inside a golden mandorla or on top of a blanket of clouds, comes from Filippo Lippi's Coronation of the Virgin, carried out for the Church of Sant'Ambrogio in Florence (today in the Uffizi Gallery) between 1441 and 1447. This is the only important variation that the painter ever introduced to this holy subject, which he carried out on several other occasions according to the more traditional models. Four vivacious angels, placed on either side of the central group and dressed in yellow and green, peer curiously into the interior of the baldachin. Six saints observe the scene from outside. St. John the Baptist kneels in the foreground, holding a scroll that bears the words "ECCE AGNUS DEI", and St. Peter, placed opposite, holds the Book of Gospels and the two keys, one of gold and one of silver, that open the doors to Paradise and Hell. St. Augustine stands on the left, dressed as a Bishop with a mitre and pastoral staff, with St. Paul holding the sword with which he was martyred. On the right we can find St. Rochus, protector against the plague holding a pilgrim's staff, and Mary Magdalen, holding the pot of unguents that she used to wash the feet of Christ. In this work, which dates from the later stages of his career, Neri maintains the expressive vivaciousness and brilliant decorative taste that is the most valuable characteristic of his paintings on wood and at the same time shows that he knows all about the new trends being proposed by the great protagonists of the Florentine artistic culture, among them Filippo Lippi. However the stylistic element that most distinguishes all his artistic production, which is almost always characterised by the fact that many works appear to have been carried out in series, can still be clearly seen in some immediately recognisable physical aspects, like the stiff composure of some of the figures and the unwavering use of gilding on the backgrounds, that many painters in his time were already beginning to limit to the frame alone. back print
		info@chiantimusei.it