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 Basilica of San Giorgio fuori le mura, 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.

Description

An 18th century description of the altarpiece was made by Girolamo Baruffaldi. Based on that information Maurizio Bonora created a reconstruction with the technique of graphite on paper. The altarpiece was composed of six main panels, with a large ''Madonna and Child Enthroned'' in the center and on the sides two lower panels, with saints and characters of the Roverella family, surmounted by a panel with a kneeling saint each. Above was the large lunette with the Pietà, a work of great emotional force perhaps inspired by one of the numerous sculptural groups depicting the Lamentation over the Dead Christ then widespread in Romagna. At the bottom there was a predella made up of an unspecified number of roundels (perhaps seven), of which three are known today. Of the side panels, only that of ''Saints Maurilius and Paolo with Niccolò Roverella'' is preserved, where we can see, in the drapery of Paolo's cloak, the typical Tura style in rendering the folds as if they were heavy and wet, with a strong chiaroscuro. On the whole, the perspective glimpses with a lowered vanishing point must have been remarkable, which allowed to see the lacunar vaults of the architectural backgrounds, as is clearly evident in the central panel. The known panels from the altarpiece are: *''Pietà with Saints'', 132x267 cm, Louvre, Paris - upper lunette *''St George'', 39x29 cm, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego - main register, left, main panel (fragment) *''Madonna and Child Enthroned'', 239x102 cm, National Gallery, London, National Gallery, London - main register, centre *''Saint Maurilius and Saint Paul with Niccolò Roverella'', Palazzo Colonna, Galleria Colonna, Rome - main register, right, main panel *''Circumcision of Christ'', tondo, 38 cm (diameter), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston - predella *''Flight into Egypt'', tondo, 38 cm (diameter), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York - predella *''Adoration of the Magi'', tondo, 38 cm (diameter), Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge (Massachusetts) - predella In the lower left panel were to be the Saints Lawrence and George (fragment of San Diego, possibly damaged by the explosion of 1709), with Bishop Lorenzo knocking on the door of Heaven. Saints Bernard and Benedict were also to be represented in the panels, according to Girolamo Baruffaldi. Girolamo Baruffaldi, ''Vite de' pittori e scultori ferraresi'', Domenico Taddei, 1817 (1st edition 1740) (Italian)

Gallery

Lunette

File:Cosmè Tura 031.jpg, ''Pietà''

Main register

File:Cosmè Tura 028.jpg, ''Saint George'' (part of main left panel) File:Cosmè_Tura_029.jpg, ''Madonna and Child Enthroned'' (central panel, double height) File:Cosmè tura, santi paolo e maurelio con bartolomeo roverella.jpg, ''Saint Maurelius and Saint Paul with Niccolò Roverella'' (main right panel)

Predella

File:Cosmè Tura 033.jpg, ''Circumcision'' File:Cosmè Tura - Flight to Egypt (from the predella of the Roverella Polyptych) - WGA23121.jpg, ''Flight into Egypt''

References

{{Cosmè Tura 1474 paintings Paintings by Cosmè Tura Paintings in Rome Paintings in the National Gallery, London Paintings in the Louvre by Italian artists Paintings in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Paintings in the Harvard Art Museums Paintings in the San Diego Museum of Art Paintings of the Madonna and Child Paintings of the Pietà Paintings depicting Paul the Apostle Paintings depicting the Adoration of the Magi, Tura Paintings of Saint George (martyr) Paintings depicting the Flight into Egypt Paintings of the Circumcision of Christ Altarpieces