The ''Stefaneschi Altarpiece'' is a

triptych A triptych ( ) is a work of art (usually a panel painting) that is divided into three sections, or three carved panels that are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all m ...

by the Italian painter

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto, was an List of Italian painters, Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the International Gothic, Gothic and Italian Ren ...

, from ''c.'' 1320. It was commissioned by

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

Giacomo Gaetani Stefaneschi to serve as an

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

for one of the altars of

Old St. Peter's Basilica Old St. Peter's Basilica was the church buildings that stood, from the 4th to 16th centuries, where St. Peter's Basilica stands today in Vatican City. Construction of the basilica, built over the historical site of the Circus of Nero, began dur ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. It is now at the Pinacoteca Vaticana, in

Description

It is a rare example in Giotto's work of a documented commission, and includes Giotto's signature, although the date, like most dates for Giotto, is disputed, and many scholars feel the artist's workshop was responsible for its execution. It had long been thought to have been made for the main altar of the church; more recent research suggests that it was placed on the "canon's altar", located in the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, just to the left of the huge arched opening into the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

. The

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

was freestanding, and the altarpiece is painted on both sides so it could be seen by the congregation from the front and the canons of the church from the back. The central front panel represents

Saint Peter Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...

enthroned, flanked by saints, with Cardinal Stefaneschi himself kneeling at Peter's right offering up this altarpiece in reduced size. Saints James and

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

are in the left panel and

John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( – ) is the name traditionally given to the author of the Gospel of John. Christians have traditionally identified him with John the Apostle, John of Patmos, and John the Presbyter, although there is no consensus on how ...

and

Andrew Andrew is the English form of the given name, common in many countries. The word is derived from the , ''Andreas'', itself related to ''aner/andros'', "man" (as opposed to "woman"), thus meaning "manly" and, as consequence, "brave", "strong", "c ...

are on the right. Two of the three predella panels are lost, but they surely all represented half-length figures of saints. The back main (central) panel represents Christ enthroned flanked by angels with a kneeling Cardinal Stefaneschi at his right foot. In the left panel we see the crucifixion of Peter, and on the right is the beheading of St. Paul. The predella depicts the

Virgin and Child In Christian art, a Madonna () is a religious depiction of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a singular form or sometimes accompanied by the Child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word ...

flanked by angels in the center and standing figures of the 12 apostles at the sides. The altarpiece stood before the apse of Old St. Peter's, which in the 14th century contained a mosaic of Christ enthroned between Saints. Peter & Paul. Thus the iconography of the front of the painting paralleled the apse mosaic in form but did not repeat it in iconography. The central panel of the back of the altarpiece duplicated the apse mosaic for those who could not see it (because they sat with their backs to it), while the side panels introduced narratives. It was normal for double-sided altarpieces in this period to have an iconic image on the front and narrative images on the back. Peter echoes Christ's pose to emphasize the role of the pope (Peter was the first pope) as Christ's representative on earth. Giotto represents the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul as taking place in recognizable locales, frequently visited by pilgrims to Rome. Peter's crucifixion is placed between the '' Meta Romuli'' (a

pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...

near the Vatican, destroyed in the 15th century) and the Terebinthus Neronis (a classical monument, likely a mausoleum, that no longer exists), while Paul's beheading is outside the city, near a round building that represents the church of

San Paolo alle Tre Fontane San Paolo alle Tre Fontane (Italian language, Italian), in English "St Paul at the Three Fountains" is a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Paul the Apostle, at the presumed site of his martyrdom in Rome. In Latin it is known as Sancti Pauli ad Aqu ...

, the site of the Saint's beheading South of Rome. These scenes could also be found in the medieval frescoes on the walls of the nave of Old St. Peter's. Although images of donors in church decorations in Rome went back to the Early Christian period, Giotto's altarpiece for St. Peter's is unusual in both the double representation of the donor (front and back) and the specificity of the face and costume of Cardinal Stefaneschi. Stefaneschi is dressed in full ceremonial costume as a cardinal on the front, appropriate for the "public" face of the altarpiece and is introduced to St. Peter by St. George. On the back, he is more modestly dressed as a canon, like the audience for this side of the painting.

Vasari Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer who is best known for his work '' Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', considered the ide ...

cited portraiture as one of the greatest strengths of Giotto's art.Maginnis, 386–390. The depiction of Stefaneschi holding this very painting suggests that it originally had a significantly more elaborate frame, which would have made the relatively small altarpiece fit better into the large space that was Old St. Peter's. The characteristic of containing a smaller version of itself provides one of the earliest known Renaissance examples of the so-called "

Droste effect The Droste effect (), known in art as an example of ''mise en abyme'', is the effect of a picture recursion, recursively appearing within itself, in a place where a similar picture would realistically be expected to appear. This produces a loo ...

", common in medieval art.

Notes

Sources

*Boskovits, Miklos, "Giotto a Roma", ''Arte Cristiana'', 88 (2000) 171–180. *Gardner, Julian, "The Stefaneschi Altarpiece: A Reconsideration", ''Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes'', Vol. 37, (1974), pp. 57–103. *Gosebruch, M., "Giottos Stefaneschi-Altarwerk aus Alt-St. Peter in Rom", ''Miscellanea Bibliotecae Hertzianae'', Munich, 1961, 101–130. *von den Haegen, Anne Mueller, ''Giotto di Bondone'', trans. Lena Miller, Cologne, 1998, 80–85. *Kemp,W., "Zum Program von Stefaneschi-Altar und Navicella", ''Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte'', 30 (1967) 309–320. *Kempers, Bram & Sible de Blauuw. "Jacopo Stefaneschi, Patron and Liturgist: A New Hypothesis Regarding the Date, Iconography, Authorship, and Function of His Altarpiece for Old St. Peter's", ''Mededelingen van het Nederlands Instituut te Rome'' 47 (1987) 83–113. *Kessler, Herbert L., "Giotto e Roma", in ''Giotto e il Trecento: "Il più Sovrano Maestro stato in dipintura"'', exh. cat., ed. Alessandro Tomei, Milan, 2009, 85–99. *Maginnis, Hayden B.J., "Giotto's World through Vasari's Eyes", ''Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte'', 56 Bd., H. 3 (1993), pp. 385–408. *Paoletti, John T. & Gary Radke, ''Art in Renaissance Italy'', 3rd ed., London, 2005.

External links

''The Vatican: spirit and art of Christian Rome''
a book from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on this triptych (p. 251) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stefaneschi Altarpiece 1320s paintings Paintings by Giotto Polyptychs Paintings of the Madonna and Child Paintings in the Vatican Museums Gold ground paintings Altarpieces Paintings of Saint Peter Paintings with donor portraits