The Roverella Altarpiece was a religious painting by

Cosmè Tura Cosmè Tura (; 1495), also known as Il Cosmè or Cosimo Tura, was an Italian early-Renaissance (or Quattrocento) painter and considered one of the founders of the School of Ferrara (Painting), School of Ferrara. He provided a great contribution to ...

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 Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

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 Romagna () is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna, in northern Italy. Etymology The name ''Romagna'' originates from the Latin name ''Romania'', which originally ...

. 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 The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

, Paris - upper lunette *''St George'', 39x29 cm,

San Diego Museum of Art The San Diego Museum of Art is a fine art museum in Balboa Park in San Diego, California, that houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art. It opened as the Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego on February 28, 1926, and changed ...

, San Diego - main register, left, main panel (fragment) *''Madonna and Child Enthroned'', 239x102 cm,

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

, London - main register, centre *''Saint Maurilius and Saint Paul with Niccolò Roverella'',

Galleria Colonna Galleria Alberto Sordi, until 2003 Galleria Colonna, is a shopping arcade in Rome, Italy, named after the actor Alberto Sordi. It was designed in the early 1900s by the architect Dario Carbone and constructed on the Via del Corso as Galleria C ...

, Rome - main register, right, main panel *''Circumcision of Christ'', tondo, 38 cm (diameter),

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts, which houses significant examples of European, Asian, and American art. Its collection includes paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and decorative arts. It was found ...

, Boston - predella *''Flight into Egypt'', tondo, 38 cm (diameter),

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, New York - predella *''Adoration of the Magi'', tondo, 38 cm (diameter),

Fogg Art Museum The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (established in 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (established in 1903), and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (established in 1985), and four research ...

, 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 (10 July 1740 – 2 February 1817) was an Italian historian who wrote a biography of artists active in Ferrara. Biography Born in Ferrara, he studied initially with the Jesuit institute in Novellara Novellara ( Reggiano: o ...

. 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 of Paul the Apostle Tura Paintings of Saint George (martyr) Paintings of the Flight into Egypt Paintings of the Circumcision of Christ Altarpieces Oil on panel paintings Tempera paintings