Cervara Altarpiece

Last updated
Cervara Altarpiece
Cervara-triptiek (wedersamenstelling).jpg
Virtual reconstruction of the altarpiece
Artist Gerard David
Year 1507
Mediumoil on oak panel
Dimensions153 cm× 89 cm(60 in× 35 in)
Location Palazzo Bianco, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Musée du Louvre, Genoa, New York City, Paris.

The Cervara Altarpiece or Cervara Polyptych was an oil-on-oak-panel altarpiece painted by the Flemish painter Gerard David early in the 16th century for the high altar of Cervara Abbey in Liguria, Italy.

Contents

History

It was commissioned by the Genoese nobleman Vincenzo Sauli on 7 September 1506, as dated in a 17th-century document - Sauli's name is painted above the Virgin's feet in the central panel. David painted it in Bruges and it was installed in the Abbey in 1507. [1]

Description

It was originally formed of seven panels, which were divided up after the monastery's suppression and requisition in 1797 by the Republic of Genoa. The separated panels were initially deposited in the Palais Ducal, seat of the prefecture, and only four panels remained in Genoa. These four were the central one (measuring 153 by 89 cm and showing the Madonna and Child Enthroned or the Madonna of the Grapes), two side panels (each measuring 152.5 by 64 cm and showing saint Jerome and saint Maurus) and an upper central panel (measuring 102 by 88 cm and showing the Crucifixion). [2]

Panels in the Palazzo Bianco. Gerard david, polittico della cervara 01.JPG
Panels in the Palazzo Bianco.

The central Virgin and Child and the upper Crucifixion panels were rediscovered in the Palazzo Ducale in 1805. In 1830 the painter Francesco Baratta the elder supervised their transfer to the mayor's office in the Palazzo Tursi, the civic palazzo, and later into the Palazzo Bianco gallery. [3] The altarpiece's three remaining panels were later rediscovered in Italy. Two of these were the two upper side panels of the Annunciation, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, with one showing the angel and one the Virgin. A final semicircular panel from above the Crucifixion is now in the Louvre Museum in Paris - this shows God the Father with his hand raised in blessing, surrounded by angels. All seven panels were re-united at the Palazzo Bianco in autumn 2005. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Filippino Lippi</span> Italian painter (1457–1504)

Filippino Lippi was an Italian painter working in Florence, Italy during the later years of the Early Renaissance and first few years of the High Renaissance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luca Signorelli</span> Italian Renaissance painter (c. 1441/1445–1523)

Luca Signorelli was an Italian Renaissance painter from Cortona, in Tuscany, who was noted in particular for his ability as a draftsman and his use of foreshortening. His massive frescos of the Last Judgment (1499–1503) in Orvieto Cathedral are considered his masterpiece.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinturicchio</span> Italian painter (1454–1513)

Pinturicchio, or Pintoricchio, also known as Benetto di Biagio or Sordicchio, was an Italian painter during the Renaissance. He acquired his nickname because of his small stature and he used it to sign some of his artworks that were created during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pietro Perugino</span> Italian Renaissance painter (c. 1446/1452–1523)

Pietro Perugino, born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pupil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ridolfo Ghirlandaio</span> Italian painter (1483–1561)

Ridolfo di Domenico Bigordi, better known as Ridolfo Ghirlandaio was an Italian Renaissance painter active mainly in Florence. He was the son of Domenico Ghirlandaio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Bianco</span> Palace in Genoa, Italy

Palazzo Bianco is one of the main buildings of the center of Genoa, Italy. It is situated at 11, via Garibaldi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gioacchino Assereto</span> Italian painter

Gioacchino Assereto was an Italian painter of the early Baroque period and one of the most prominent history painters active in Genoa in the first half of the 17th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cervara Abbey</span>

Cervara Abbey is a former abbey in Santa Margherita Ligure, Liguria region, northern Italy. It is on the coastal road to Portofino. The abbey complex is a designated National Monument of Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Rosso</span> Historical palace of Genoa, Italy

The Palazzo Brignole Sale or Palazzo Rosso is a house museum located in Via Garibaldi, in the historical center of Genoa, in Northwestern Italy. The palace is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Genoa: Le Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli. The rich art collection inside, along with the galleries of Palazzo Bianco and Palazzo Doria Tursi, is part of the Musei di Strada Nuova and consists of the works of artists of the caliber of Antoon van Dyck, Guido Reni, Paolo Veronese, Guercino, Gregorio De Ferrari, Albrecht Dürer, Bernardo Strozzi and Mattia Preti.

Genoa: <i>Le Strade Nuove</i> and the system of the <i>Palazzi dei Rolli</i> UNESCO World Heritage Site in Liguria, Italy

Genoa: Le Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli is a UNESCO World Heritage Site which includes a number of streets and palaces in the center of Genoa, in Northwestern Italy.

Carlo Doria, 1st Duke of Tursi, was an Italian general who fought for Spain during the War of Mantuan Succession.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernardo di Stefano Rosselli</span> Italian painter (1450-1526)

Bernardo di Stefano Rosselli was an Italian painter active in his native Florence and the surrounding countryside.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maddalena (Genoa)</span> Quartiere in Liguria, Italy

Maddalena is a neighbourhood in the old town of the Italian city of Genoa. It was one of the six sestieri of ancient Genoa. At present it is part of the Genoa's city Municipio I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pisa Altarpiece</span> Dismembered altarpiece by Masaccio

The Pisa Altarpiece was a large multi-paneled altarpiece produced by Masaccio for the chapel of Saint Julian in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Pisa. The chapel was owned by the notary Giuliano di Colino, who commissioned the work on February 19, 1426 for the sum of 80 florins. Payment for the work was recorded on December 26 of that year. The altarpiece was dismantled and dispersed to various collections and museums in the 18th century, but an attempted reconstruction was made possible due to a detailed description of the work by Vasari in 1568.

<i>Roverella Altarpiece</i> Dismembered altarpiece by Cosimo Tura

The Roverella Altarpiece was a religious painting by Cosmè Tura completed during 1470–1474 using oil and egg-tempera on poplar panel work, commissioned by abbot and cardinal Bartolomeo Roverella for San Giorgio fuori le mura in Ferrara in memory of his brother bishop Lorenzo Roverella. It was one of the most significant works of the artist and of the Ferrara Renaissance in general. It was damaged in an explosion in 1709 and moved out of the church. It is now dismembered and their panels split up between several museums.

<i>Intercession Altarpiece</i>

The Intercession Altarpiece is a five-panel tempera and gold on panel painting by Gentile da Fabriano, produced during his stay in Florence from 1420 to 1423. Its original location is unknown, though it is now in the sacristy of Chiesa di San Niccolò Oltrarno in Florence. It is named after its central panel of Jesus and the Virgin Mary interceding to God the Father. The two outermost panels show Louis of Toulouse and Bernard of Clairvaux. The two inner side-panels show the Resurrection of Lazarus and a group of three saints.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Musei di Strada Nuova</span> Art museums in Genoa, Italy

The Musei di Strada Nuova in the Italian city of Genoa comprise three museums which together form a single complex, housed in the Palazzo Rosso, the Palazzo Bianco and the Palazzo Tursi, all of which are located along the Via Garibaldi. The Palazzo Tursi is also Genoa's city hall.

<i>Woman Cooking</i> Paintings by Bernardo Strozzi

Woman Cooking or The Cook is the modern title given to a circa 1625 oil on canvas genre painting by Bernardo Strozzi, produced in Genoa and still held in the Palazzo Rosso in the city, part of the Strada Nuova Museums. A second autograph version with various differences was in the painter's studio at his death and is now at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palazzo Doria-Tursi</span>

The palazzo Doria-Tursi or palazzo Niccolò Grimaldi is a building on Via Giuseppe Garibaldi in the historic town centre of Genoa. With Palazzo Rosso and Palazzo Bianco it houses the Strada Nuova Museums and on 13 July 2006 all three palaces and the streets around them became the Genoa: Le Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli World Heritage Site. Since 1848 Palazzo Doria-Tursi has also housed the city hall of Genoa.

<i>Madonna and Child with Saints</i> (Palma Vecchio, Genoa) Painting by Palma Vecchio

Madonna and Child with Saints is a c. 1520-1522 oil on panel painting by Palma Vecchio, now in the Palazzo Rosso in Genoa.

References

  1. (in Italian) C. Di Fabio, Il Polittico della Cervara di Gerard David, exhibition catalogue, Cinisello Balsamo, Genova, Musei di Strada Nuova - Palazzo Bianco, 2005
  2. (in Italian) AA.VV., Musei di Strada Nuova a Genova, Milan, 2010 ( ISBN   978-88-572-0433-8)
  3. Richardson, Carol M. (2007). Locating Renaissance art. Yale University Press. ISBN   978-0300121889 . Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  4. "Photographic image" (JPG). Albertozonghetti.it. Retrieved 2017-08-20.