Sts John the Baptist, John the Evangelist and James
by NARDO DI CIONE, Egg tempera on poplar, 160 x 148 cm
The panel originates from the Hospital Church of SS. Giovanni e Niccolò, Florence. (The church and the attached hospital seem to have gone under several different names.) It was probably commissioned for the high altar of the church, with John the Baptist as titular of the church.
St John the Baptist, in the centre of the panel, is identifiable by the text he carries. St John the Evangelist carries his Gospel, St James carries a book and a pilgrim’s staff.