The Blessed Guardato
by BOCCATI, Giovanni di Piermatteo, Tempera and gold on wood, 138 x 47 cm
This panel is part of the Belforte Altarpiece, the largest (483 x 323 cm) fifteenth-century polyptych in the Marches. This altarpiece of complex structure survived almost intact. The polyptych was temporarily dismantled during the recent restoration which made possible the detailed study of its individual panels, among them the pinnacle panel depicting the Blessed Guardato (born about 1360 in Visso), a local holy figure with relatively minor iconographic importance.
The Belforte polyptych is an excellent example of Boccati’s mature style.