/internal/media/dispatcher/1193046/resize%25253Aformat%25253DthumbnailVirgin and Child with Saints Christopher, Augustine, Stephen, John the Baptist, Nicholas, and Sebastianearly 15th centuryUnidentified artist, Italian (Cretan-Venetian), early 15th centuryCenter panel: 229 x 72 cm (90 3/16 x 28 3/8 in.)
Each of six side panels: 175 x 34 cm (68 7/8 x 13 3/8 in.)Tempera on panelGift of Dr. Eliot Hubbard, Jr.37.410.1-71A monumental 7 panel (polyptych) altarpiece that reflects both Italian (Venetian?) and Byzantine (Cretan?) artistic traditions. Known to be from the Church and Abbey of St Stefano near Monopoli, a town in Apulia on the heel of Italy’s boot.
The scale is 3 meters in width, and 2.4 meters in height. The format is typical of the Venetian tradition; the central panel is taller and wider, depicting the Virgin and Child as was common, and is flanked by full-length saints on either side. Saints Christopher, Augustine, and Stephen are on the left, and Saints John the Baptist, Nicholas and Sebastian are on the right. Many workshops for icons were working on Crete and exporting to the east and west. Many of these workshops produced works in the style demanded by clients either in a Byzantine or early Italian manner. We see both combined in the MFA altarpiece, the only known example extant of a Cretan style used in an Italian altarpiece format. Note the Gothic style used to portray Saints Augustine and Stephen, and the Cretan style used to represent Virgin and Child, John the Baptist, and St. Nicholas. However, despite stylistic differences the techniques used to paint this altarpiece indicate it was produced in a single workshop.
Paintings175.0000000000229.000000000059467401