GENTILE DA FABRIANO

At the end of a long journey, the Magi arrive before the newly born Messiah, guided by a star, and they kneel before the Holy Family, offering their precious gifts. The three wise men are dressed in extraordinarily rich, fashionable garments and are accompanied by a multi-ethnic procession that also includes exotic animals, to emphasise their coming from the Far East. The journey of the Magi, from the time that they see the star, to their pause at Herod’s palace and finally, their return home, is depicted in three separate episodes in the background of the work, brought together by the rocky backdrop on the horizon, but visually separated by the three arches of the frame.

With its stunning frame decorated at the sides with painted flowers, this altarpiece is completed by a predella showing scenes of Christ’s childhood: the Nativity, the Presentation at the Temple, and the Flight into Egypt (in the centre). The section with the Presentation at the Temple is a modern copy of the original, which is at the Louvre Museum in Paris. The painting itself was commissioned by rich banker and refined art lover, Palla Strozzi, for the family chapel in the sacristy of the Church of Santa Trinita in Florence. The panel, which is signed by the artist, and dated 1423, is Gentile’s finest work and has been recognized the most important example of International Gothic painting in Italy. It shows extraordinary technical skills in the use of specific techniques, as can be seen in the large amounts of metal leaf, embossed partially to create a relief that adds a three-dimensional aspect to the items, such as the spurs on the horseman or the hilt of a sword. In the predella, in place of the gold background used in Mediaeval times, the scenes have blue skies, demonstrating an interest in nature and the beginning of those cultural and aesthetic canons that would flourish in the Renaissance.

Palla di Noferi Strozzi commissioned this famous altarpiece, signed and dated 1423 on the frame, for his family’s chapel in the church of Santa Trinita in Florence. Wealth and culture of the donor are reflected in the lavish use of gold and in the pomp of the Magi procession, including also exotic animals as leopards and monkeys. If in this picture clearly emerges the persistence of International Gothic at the beginning of 15th Century, in the meanwhile the panel is ahead of its time showing in the predella scenes (Nativity, Rest during the Flight into Egypt and Presentation to the Temple) one of the basic innovations of Renaissance art: the blue sky at the place of the traditional gold background.

Gentile da Fabriano’s painting is not a geometrically constructed composition. It should be read as if it were the text of a tale, beginning at the top left corner, where the three Magi, meeting at the seaside, notice the star they have to follow. If we follow their course among sloping hills and cultivated fields we can see how they march into Jerusalem under the frame of the central arch, while in the lunette on the right we can see them departing. In the middle distance the direction of their journey changes, proceeding towards us and suddenly the mass of people appears from a deep ravine flanked up by a precipitous rock and a fence. Now we can discern the faces too, and observe the smallest details of garments, arms and harness. Then the crowd, which can pride itself on hunters, noble chargers and exotic animals too, stops at the right-hand corner of the foreground, having reached its destination. Only here does the youngest King’s page remove his master’s spurs; having sunk to one knee the second King is on the point of handing over his gift, whereas the oldest, who has already presented his, is kneeling and kissing the Infant Jesus’ foot. The elegant handmaids of the Virgin are taking delight in the lovely sight.

In a masterly way Gentile da Fabriano launches, moves and stops this huge crowd of people. On the shores of the endless sea, underneath the left upper lunette, the figures of the three Magi on the summit of a mountain are surrounded by an atmosphere of cosmic stillness, while the march itself is exceedingly animated. Lively conversations are in progress, the horses are ambling and the limitless wonders of nature attract the travellers’ attention. The scene of the Magi paying homage (also in the left-hand side) is calm again, emanating profound devotion and meditation. The somewhat dilapidated gate and the cave separate the principal characters from the episodes narrating what had happened earlier and it gives them some quiet in the otherwise overcrowded composition.

The plentiful realism of details which Gentile da Fabriano produced achieved such convincing effects that it approached the Renaissance ideal of representing reality. He was not only able to depict objects accurately, but also every tiny change of facial expressions and the direction of glances establishing links between people. Nor did he forget the spectator, since the donor of the altarpiece, Palla Strozzi, standing behind the youngest King, is looking at us.

The banker Palla Strozzi, who commissioned the work, had himself portrayed with his son immediately behind the youngest king. It is not just the magnificent decoration of the work and the exotic animals which refer to the courtly culture; the kneeling squire fastening the spur of the king presenting his gift is also a chivalrous motif.

The banker Palla Strozzi, who commissioned the work, had himself portrayed with his son immediately behind the youngest king. It is not just the magnificent decoration of the work and the exotic animals which refer to the courtly culture; the kneeling squire fastening the spur of the king presenting his gift is also a chivalrous motif.

The altarpiece is completed by a predella showing scenes of Christ’s childhood: the Nativity, the Presentation at the Temple, and the Flight into Egypt (in the centre). The section with the Presentation at the Temple is a modern copy of the original, which is at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

In the predella, in place of the gold background used in Mediaeval times, the scenes have blue skies, demonstrating an interest in nature and the beginning of those cultural and aesthetic canons that would flourish in the Renaissance.

This small panel, which combines the rigour of perspective construction with embellishments of pronounced courtly inspiration, is generally dated to around the year 1425, the year in which the painter, en route to Rome at the invitation of Pope Martin V Colonna (1417-51), spent a period of residence in Florence, where he was to create some of his greatest masterpieces.

The scene takes place in a room enclosed on three sides and opened in front as if by a portico. The room is lit by little rose windows and other windows of elaborate Gothic design. A frieze of miniature trefoil arches runs along the upper cornice of the room, defining the front edge of its coffered ceiling. An open arched doorway, through which the angel enters, admits to a garden, in which trees laden with fruit can be glimpsed to the far left. The Virgin is startled by the angel’s annunciation as she sits, hands folded in her lap and open prayer book beside her, on an L-shaped settle, richly ornamented with intarsia panels in the shape of diamonds, lozenges, and intersecting circles.

The room is lit by little rose windows and other windows of elaborate Gothic design. A frieze of miniature trefoil arches runs along the upper cornice of the room, defining the front edge of its coffered ceiling. An open arched doorway, through which the angel enters, admits to a garden, in which trees laden with fruit can be glimpsed to the far left.

The mood is one of lavish ceremony, as Christ places an ornate gold crown upon the Virgin Mary’s slightly bowed head. Groups of musical angels watch from either side as she is crowned Queen of Heaven. Gentile da Fabriano used extensive tooling, pastiglia (areas of raised gesso which is moulded and then gilded) and rich pigments applied in glazes over the gold leaf to create a sumptuous surface resembling tapestry. The complex patterning, elaborate materials, and the intricacy of the gold tooling are characteristic of Gentile’s works, which were celebrated for their refinement and much sought after by eminent patrons all across the Italian peninsula.

Gentile painted this work for his native town, Fabriano in the Marches, probably for a confraternity associated with the church of San Francesco. Originally the panel was double-sided and served as a processional standard held aloft in parades that honoured the Virgin Mary. Sometime prior to 1827, the panel was sawn down the middle to create two paintings; the reverse, depicting the Stigmatization of St Francis, is now in the collection of the Fondazione Magnani-Rocca, Mamiano di Traversetolo, Parma.

Gentile interrupted his work in Siena in order to paint a fresco of the Virgin and Child in the north aisle of Orvieto Cathedral, arriving in Orvieto on 25 August 1425. Since its restoration and the removal of drastic overpainting, the ‘Maest�’, as it was called, has emerged as one of his most monumental designs and, technically and colouristically, one of his most delicate works.

The figure of Saint Catherine, on the right side of the painting, was added to the fresco by Giovanbattista Ragazzini of Ravenna in 1586.

This is the left scene of the predella on the large altarpiece Adoration of the Magi.

In this scene the luminous radiance emanating from the body of the Christ Child suffuses the central part of the small panel, bathing the figures and the landscape in a soft glow that is as much a depiction of natural moonlight on landscape forms as it is a manifestation of the supernatural. The light extends to the left edge of the panel where it casts distinct shadows on the shed framing the two reclining women there. A comparable depiction of the divine through the carefully observed natural phenomena of light appears in the upper right of the panel where the angel appears to the shepherds to announce the birth of Christ.

Art historians assume that the commission for the polyptych probably came from Chiavello Chiavelli, lord of Fabriano, who had the monastery Santa Maria di Valdisasso near Fabriano restored in 1406 and selected it as the place for his own burial.

The central panel of the polyptych (157 x 80 cm) depicts the Coronation of the Virgin; the side panels (118 x 40 cm each) represent St Jerome, St Francis, St Dominic, and Mary Magdalene; the upper panels, whose sequence has not been definitively reconstructed (49 x 38 cm each) shows The Killing of St Peter Martyr, St John the Baptist in the Desert, St Francis Receiving the Stigmata, and A Franciscan Saint, probably St Anthony of Padua.

A familiarity with late fourteenth-century Lombard miniatures and graphic work undoubtedly was an important element in Gentile da Fabriano’s training, as is indicated by the clear affinities between his work and that of Michelino da Besozzo. He was also influenced by masters of mixed tendencies, such as Barnaba da Modena and Taddeo di Bartolo, and more incisively by Venetian and Tuscan art.

In the central panel, the Virgin is shown being crowned by Christ, in the presence of God the Father and the Holy Ghost. The refined and delicate composition is made up of the three weightless figures - which seem to be disembodied in their draperies - and insubstantial elements, such as the radiant and flaming nimbus that supports the apparition of the Trinity. Curved forms - including the band of angel musicians, the contours of the figures of Christ and the Virgin, and the crowd of seraphim around God the Father - echo the arched shape of the panel.

In the side panels, the bodies of the saints also disappear within the fluid coils of their robes. There is a highly refined play of colour variations among the four figures. The red, white and gold robe of St Jerome and the pink and violet costume of Mary Magdalene contrast with the more sober brown of St Francis’ habit and the black of St Dominic’s mantle. St Francis’ bare feet, an attribute of his iconography, are almost disconnected from the figure. The feet of the other figures remain invisible, hidden by their robes and the thick carpet of flowers.

Indifference to the rendering of space and the relative sizes of figures can also be seen in the smaller panels of the altarpiece. St John the Baptist and St Francis, shown kneeling in profile, are squeezed in among rocky peaks without regard to realistic proportions. Similarly, St Anthony is placed in a narrow garden, hemmed in by the wall and the door which emphasize the atmosphere of private meditation. St Peter’s martyrdom, which is not very sanguinary despite the flow of blood, creates an impact by being brought forward toward the spectator.

In the central panel, the Virgin is shown being crowned by Christ, in the presence of God the Father and the Holy Ghost. The refined and delicate composition is made up of the three weightless figures - which seem to be disembodied in their draperies - and insubstantial elements, such as the radiant and flaming nimbus that supports the apparition of the Trinity. Curved forms - including the band of angel musicians, the contours of the figures of Christ and the Virgin, and the crowd of seraphim around God the Father - echo the arched shape of the panel.

The left side of the polyptych shows in the lower part St Jerome and St Francis, while the upper part contains The Killing of St Peter Martyr and St John the Baptist in the Desert.

In the lower part of the side panels, the bodies of the saints disappear within the fluid coils of their robes. There is a highly refined play of colour variations among the four figures. The red, white and gold robe of St Jerome and the pink and violet costume of Mary Magdalene contrast with the more sober brown of St Francis’ habit and the black of St Dominic’s mantle. St Francis’ bare feet, an attribute of his iconography, are almost disconnected from the figure. The feet of the other figures remain invisible, hidden by their robes and the thick carpet of flowers.

Indifference to the rendering of space and the relative sizes of figures can also be seen in the smaller panels of the upper part. St John the Baptist and St Francis, shown kneeling in profile, are squeezed in among rocky peaks without regard to realistic proportions. Similarly, St Anthony is placed in a narrow garden, hemmed in by the wall and the door, emphasizing the atmosphere of private meditation. St Peter’s martyrdom, which is not very sanguinary despite the flow of blood, creates an impact by being brought forward toward the spectator.

This is the scene on the right side of the predella on the large altarpiece “Adoration of the Magi”.

The polyptych is from the Quaratesi chapel in San Niccolò Oltrarno, Florence. The central panel of the polyptych is flanked by four saints, each on a separate gabled panel. The four saints represented are Mary Magdalen, Nicholas of Bari, John the Baptist, and George. In the upper tondos supported by angels and cherubs are the Angel Annunciating, St Francis, St Dominic, and the Virgin Annunciate.

Despite the fragmentation of this work, the solid figures of these saints demonstrate the way Gentile da Fabriano’s painting developed during the time he spent in Florence. Without jeopardizing the grace of his lines or the richness of his materials, the painter seems aware of the strides being made in art around that time by Masolino and Masaccio. The flowering grass of his early work is here replaced by a tiled floor. Each figure is treated with a solemn human and monumental characterization. He achieved this by a more rigorous definition of the volume the figures occupy in real space. But overall it remains thoroughly Gothic in its atmosphere.

This panel is part of the predella of the Quaratesi polyptych.

It appears that Gentile felt freer to experiment in the minor scenes of a predella than in the main panel of an altarpiece. In this case he shows the interior of a church, which itself was quite a difficult task, with a rather convincing treatment of the space.

This panel is part of the predella of the Quaratesi polyptych.

It appears that Gentile felt freer to experiment in the minor scenes of a predella than in the main panel of an altarpiece. In this case he shows the interior of a church, which itself was quite a difficult task, with a rather convincing treatment of the space.

One of the right side panels of the polyptych represents St George.

One of the right side panels of the polyptych represents St John the Baptist.

One of the left side panels of the polyptych represents St Mary Magdalen.

One of the left side panels of the polyptych represents St Mary Magdalen.

This panel is part of the predella of the Quaratesi polyptych.

This panel is part of the predella of the Quaratesi polyptych.

One of the left side panels of the polyptych represents St. Nicholas of Bari,

This panel is part of the predella of the Quaratesi polyptych.

This panel depixcting the birth of St Nicholas is part of the predella of the Quaratesi polyptych.

The central panel of the Quaratesi altarpiece shows the Virgin and Child. This panel is flanked by four saints each on a separate gabled panel (now in the Uffizi, Florence). Christ with his foreshortened halo leans out of the little roundel in the gable above the Virgin. All elements were further harmonised through subtle adjustments of composition and colour. Gentile’s sumptuous decorative effects can now best be appreciated in the gold brocade, for the once-brilliant cloth of honour behind the Virgin and Child, painted translucent red over silver leaf and green over gold, has darkened and blotched with age.

Despite its regal magnificence, the central group retains a graceful intimacy. The Virgin, an ideal beauty of her day with fair hair, broad forehead and rosebud mouth, looks out gravely as the Christ Child smiles contentedly, showing his tiny milk teeth. Keeping firm hold of his mother’s cloak, he turns from her to the adoring angel, with a daisy - symbol of his innocence, picked in Heaven, the garden of eternal spring - held daintily between his pudgy finger and thumb.

The central panel of the Quaratesi altarpiece shows the Virgin and Child. This panel is flanked by four saints each on a separate gabled panel (now in the Uffizi, Florence). Christ with his foreshortened halo leans out of the little roundel in the gable above the Virgin. All elements were further harmonised through subtle adjustments of composition and colour. Gentile’s sumptuous decorative effects can now best be appreciated in the gold brocade, for the once-brilliant cloth of honour behind the Virgin and Child, painted translucent red over silver leaf and green over gold, has darkened and blotched with age.

Despite its regal magnificence, the central group retains a graceful intimacy. The Virgin, an ideal beauty of her day with fair hair, broad forehead and rosebud mouth, looks out gravely as the Christ Child smiles contentedly, showing his tiny milk teeth. Keeping firm hold of his mother’s cloak, he turns from her to the adoring angel, with a daisy - symbol of his innocence, picked in Heaven, the garden of eternal spring - held daintily between his pudgy finger and thumb.

This is the central scene of the predella on the large altarpiece Adoration of the Magi.

Gentile’s skill, for which he was highly regarded, is evident in this central predella scene of the Flight into Egypt, depicting Joseph leading Mary and the Christ Child. In this scene, Gentile includes figures, animals, and what is perhaps most extraordinary for the time, a vast landscape. In addition to the rocky low hills which frame the central figures, the landscape convincingly opens out on either side revealing broad vistas. On the right is a portrait of a walled hill-town.

This is an important example of Gentile’s early work. In particular it reveals the Sienese and Lombard elements in his training. The painting has all the beautiful characteristics of late International Gothic art: the use of precious materials on a splendid gold background, attention to natural details (the flowering grass), sinuous lines, graceful expressions and gestures. St Nicholas was the patron saint of the person who commissioned the work. He is seen kneeling in prayer and the Child lifts his hand in blessing in his direction. A charming Gothic detail is the musical angels who perch like birds in the leaves of the trees.