High Altar

In November 1388 Jacobello and Pierpaolo dalle Masegne jointly signed a contract to construct the high altar at San Francesco, Bologna. Jacobello’s role in its execution is difficult to define, partly because it has been heavily restored, but it may have been marginal; the predominant style is that of Pierpaolo. The richly ornate marble altar is arranged like a painted polyptych on two tiers crowned by high, slender finials. A relief of the Coronation of the Virgin in the centre is flanked by full-length saints in niches, the upper tier has God the Father enthroned, flanked by half-length busts of saints, each divided from the next by rows of smaller saints also in tabernacles. Above, the Crucifixion with the Virgin and St John is set on a tall pinnacle. Along the base, like a predella, are nine narrative scenes from the life of St Francis.