GIUSTO de' Menabuoi

This work was probably executed during Giusto’s Lombard sojourn in the 1360s. The reverse of the panel shows a later depiction of St Anthony Abbot in the desert by an other hand, tentatively identified as Fiamminghino (1575-1640).

The picture shows the frescoes in the choir of the former abbey church in Viboldone.

The Padua Baptistery is a centrally planned structure with a domical vault supported on pendentives. Giusto and his assistants covered every wall surface of the Baptistery with frescoes. One of the primary themes of the program is the end of time, the Day of Judgment, when the elect will join Christ in his kingdom. Concentric tiers of saints and angels ring the centre of the dome, whose height is enhanced by the progressive diminution of the figures’ sizes toward the central, looming figure of the blessing Christ. Directly beneath him and on axis with the Baptistery’s entrance door hovers the Virgin in a glowing gold mandorla.

Due to the frescoes Giusto painted for the Paduan church of the Eremitani, he was made a Paduan citizen. He left important works in the town, such as the frescoes in the Baptistery and in the Belludi Chapel of the Basilica del Santo (1382). He also became a source of inspiration for Altichiero.

The dominant accent is the fresco in the dome of the cupola, its theme - Paradise depicted as a heavenly retinue assembled around Christ - had been a recurring subject of fourteenth-century frescoes. It probably reflected the effect that Dante’s Divine Comedy had on its contemporaries.

The inner circle of this concentrically hierarchical image of heaven is occupied by the half-length figure of the blessing Christ which is emphasized by its size. The figure in the aureole is surrounded both inside and outside first by angels and then by three densely packed ranks of patriarchs, prophets and saints, with the size of the figures continually increasing as one moves down, which produces an illusion of depth and lends a certain illusionism to the uniformity of the ensemble. This strictly hierarchical order is interrupted in just one place, by the figure of the Virgin that stands or hovers below Christ. Angelic musicians frame Mary’s figure, while John the Baptist as mediator kneels at her right, and at her left a kneeling John the Evangelist turns toward her in worship.

This vision of paradise is followed in the next lower section of the dome with scenes from the Genesis. They begin beneath the figure of the Virgin with the Creation of the World, which is depicted in an extremely unusual form here. The first scene are followed by other biblical scenes, the number of which - thirty-three in all - is striking given the amount of available space. The painter created irregularly sized picture fields, and in most of them the scale of the figures is extremely small, which is hardly suitable to the demands of mural painting.

On the four walls of the main space of the Baptistery the story of John the Baptist and scenes from the life of Christ are represented. These walls depict, on the south side, the life of John the Baptist, and on the opposite side, the life of Christ, which in part overlaps with the life of the Baptist.

On the north wall the following scenes are depicted: The Birth of Christ (top left), The Adoration of the Magi (top middle), The Presentation in the Temple (top right), The Calling of Simon Peter and Andrew (middle left), The Calling of Matthew (middle), The Wedding at Cana (middle right), The Agony in the Garden (bottom left), The Arrest of Christ (bottom middle), Christ before the High Priest (bottom right).

On the four walls of the main space of the Baptistery the story of John the Baptist and scenes from the life of Christ are represented. These walls depict, on the south side, the life of John the Baptist, and on the opposite side, the life of Christ, which in part overlaps with the life of the Baptist.

On the west wall the following scenes are depicted: Presentation of the Virgin (top left), The Annunciation (top middle), The Visitation (top right), Massacre of the Innocents (middle left), votive image with the donor Fina Buzzacarini (middle), Christ among the Doctors (middle right), Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem (bottom left), St John the Baptist (bottom middle, this figure is of a later date), The Last Supper (bottom right).

Each spandrel has at its centre the figure of an evangelist sitting at a writing desk in his study, framed on either side by prophets. At the base of each spandrel, in a medallion with a gold ground, is the corresponding evangelist’s symbol. The coat of arms of the Carrara appears in the outermost corners of the spandrels.

The picture shows the northwest vault spandrel with St Luke between the prophets David and Jeremiah.

Giusto de’ Menabuoi came from Florence. By the mid-14th century at the latest he was active in northern Italy, beginning in Milan. Frescoes in the abbey church of Viboldone, near San Giuliano Milanese, are attributed to him as early works.

The picture shows the frewscoes on the vault of the first left-side chapel of the church of the former Abbey at Viboldone.

This scene is located in the middle on the south wall where other scenes from the life of John the Baptist are also depicted.

This scene is located top middle on the south wall where other scenes from the life of John the Baptist are also depicted.

The vision of paradise is followed in the next lower section of the dome with scenes from the Genesis. They begin beneath the figure of the Virgin with the Creation of the World, which is depicted in an extremely unusual form here. Outside the sphere of the fixed stars, represented by the signs of the zodiac sits the creator, borne by cherubim and seraphim, before the golden backdrop of the crystal sphere. In the circular zone within the heavens are the orbits of the planets, and in the innermost circle is a world map that depicts not only Italy and the Mediterranean area but also the rest of Europe, North Africa, and Asia.

The large Crucifixion scene is located on the rear (east) wall of the space. It takes up the archetype of the densely populated Mount Calvary, but most of the figures are forced together into compact blocks, which, though they serve to clarify the spatial relationships, also produce an impression of monotony and overcrowding, for which the few figures that are emphasized - like the Virgin, who has fainted, St John, or the centurion who points at Christ - are not sufficient compensation.

The vision of paradise is followed in the next lower section of the dome with scenes from the Genesis.

This is one of the scenes from the life of Christ, which are depicted on the north wall.

The picture shows a detail of the centre panel of the triptych with the Coronation of the Virgin.

On the exterior of the wings are scenes relating to Joachim and Anna, and the early life of the Virgin. Reading from left to right, the scenes are: The Expulsion of Joachim from the Temple; The Dream of Joachim; The Meeting at the Golden Gate; The Birth of the Virgin; The Presentation of the Virgin; The Marriage of the Virgin.

The selection of the scenes from the Life of the Virgin is taken from Giotto’s frescoes in the Arena Chapel in Padua, and their iconography is adapted from them.

The centre panel (48 x 25 cm) shows Christ crowning the Virgin surrounded by saints; while on the left wing (48 x 13 cm) is the Nativity, on the right wing (48 x 13 cm), the Crucifixion. Above are the Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin Annunciate.

This triptych was painted for private devotion and is one of only two works by the artist known to have been made in Lombardy.

The picture shows the view of the baptistery from the southwest. On the north wall (left) Scenes from the Life of Christ are painted, on the east wall (right) the large Crucifixion scene can be seen. In the spandrel St John the Evangelist between Ezekiel and Daniel is depicted; in the dome are Scenes from Genesis.

Above the west portal there is a votive image that shows Fina Buzzacarini before the enthroned Virgin and Child, being recommended by John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, as well as other saints, including Daniel and Prosdocimus.