The ''Valle Romita Polyptych'' (Italian: ''Polittico di Valle Romita'') is a painting by the Italian late Gothic painter

Gentile da Fabriano Gentile da Fabriano ( – 1427) was an Italian painter known for his participation in the International Gothic painter style. He worked in various places in central Italy, mostly in Tuscany. His best-known works are his ''Adoration of the Magi'' ...

, dating from c. 1410-1412 and now housed in the

Pinacoteca di Brera The Pinacoteca di Brera ("Brera Art Gallery") is the main public gallery for paintings in Milan, Italy. It contains one of the foremost collections of Italian paintings from the 13th to the 20th century, an outgrowth of the cultural program of ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. It was originally executed for the Franciscan hermitage of Valle Romita near Gentile's birthplace,

Fabriano Fabriano is a town and ''comune'' of Province of Ancona, Ancona province in the Italy, Italian region of the Marche, at Above mean sea level, above sea level. It lies in the Esino valley upstream and southwest of Jesi; and east-northeast of Foss ...

History

There is no information about the Valle Romita Polyptych's origins; however, it may have been commissioned by the lord of Fabriano, Chiavello Chiavelli, when in 1406 he had the local convent restored to house his future tomb. The painting would thus date from 1406 to 1414, when Gentile left the

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

and moved to

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

under

Pandolfo III Malatesta Pandolfo III Malatesta (c. 1369 – October 3, 1427) was an Italian condottiero and lord of Fano, a member of the famous House of Malatesta. Biography He was the second son of Galeotto I Malatesta. After the latter's death, the Malatesta lan ...

. The presence of elements of the

International Gothic International Gothic is a period of Gothic art which began in Burgundy, France, and northern Italy in the late 14th and early 15th century. It then spread very widely across Western Europe, hence the name for the period, which was introduced by th ...

style, in particular as practiced by

Michelino da Besozzo Michelino Molinari da Besozzo (c. 1370 – c. 1455) was a notable fifteenth century Italian painter and illuminator, who was widely praised for his work. He worked mostly in Milan and Lombardy, and was employed by the Visconti family, rule ...

(such as the accurate rendering of natural details) has led some to narrow the dates to 1410-1412, when the two artists met in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. The polyptych was disassembled as early as the 18th century. In 1811 the Pinacoteca di Brera acquired the central panel and the lower ones from the hermitage, which had been suppressed. The upper panels were bought from a private collection in 1901. The neo-Gothic frame dates to 1925. Gentile da Fabriano 060

Description

The polyptych measures 280 x 250 cm, the panels measuring 157.20x79.6 (central one), 117.50x40 (side lower panels) and 48.9x37.8 (upper panels). Gentile da Fabriano 049

The central panel depicts the ''Incoronation of the Virgin'' and, in the lower part, a ''Trinity'' and a choir of musician angels. This scene was inspired to the Byzantine mosaics that Gentile had seen at Venice in St. Mark's Basilica, as shown by the figures floating in the air and the shining

gold background Gold ground (both a noun and adjective) or gold-ground (adjective) is a term in art history for a style of images with all or most of the background in a solid gold colour. Historically, real gold leaf has normally been used, giving a luxuriou ...

, which is very finely tooled. Jesus' garment is drawn over a silver sheet. The four side panels show figures of saints: from the left are

Saint Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is comm ...

, with a model of the church in his hands,

Saint Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a Mysticism, mystic Italian Catholic Church, Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most vener ...

Saint Dominic Saint Dominic ( es, Santo Domingo; 8 August 1170 – 6 August 1221), also known as Dominic de Guzmán (), was a Castilian Catholic priest, mystic, the founder of the Dominican Order and is the patron saint of astronomers and natural scientis ...

and

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cru ...

. The figures are located in a garden whose botanic species are painted in deep detail. Details include the ampulla (not painted, but engraved in gold) held by Mary Magdalene in her fingers' tips: later, influenced by

Masaccio Masaccio (, , ; December 21, 1401 – summer 1428), born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, was a Florentine artist who is regarded as the first great Italian painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance. According to Vasari, ...

's realism, Gentile would paint the same subject as firmly hold in Mary's hands in the

Quaratesi Polyptych The Quaratesi Polyptych is a painting by the Italian late medieval painter Gentile da Fabriano, now divided between several museums. It was painted by the artist for the Quaratesi family's chapel in the Church of San Niccolò Oltrarno, perhaps not ...

. The smaller panels in the upper cusps depict ''Saint John the Baptist Praying in the Desert'', the ''Martyrdom of Saint Peter of Verona'', ''Saint Anthony of Padua Reading'' and ''Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata''. The scenes include further examples of Gentile's attention to details, such as the quasi-

pointillism Pointillism (, ) is a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image. Georges Seurat and Paul Signac developed the technique in 1886, branching from Impressionism. The term "Pointillism" wa ...

technique used to render the wool of the figure in Peter's scene, or the fine hair of Saint John's cloth. It is likely that the central cusp originally housed a panel with the ''Crucifixion'', housed in the Pinacoteca's same room. Other small panels with saints, divided among several collections, have been also thought to be once in the side piers of the polyptych, now lost.

Sources

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External links

Page at Marche's culture website
{{Gentile da Fabriano 1410s paintings Paintings by Gentile da Fabriano Paintings in the collection of the Pinacoteca di Brera Paintings depicting Jesus Paintings of the Virgin Mary Paintings depicting John the Baptist Altarpieces Paintings on gold backgrounds Books in art Angels in art Paintings depicting Mary Magdalene