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The Crucifixion with a donor in monastic habit, with the Virgin, Saints John the Evangelist, Scholastica and Agnes
Master of Sant'Alo' - Enlarge image
The Crucifixion with a donor in monastic habit, with the Virgin, Saints John the Evangelist, Scholastica and Agnes; Saints Emilian and Agostantia and an unidentified female saint
- Object:
Tempera painting
- Place of origin:
Spoleto, Italy (possbily, painted)
- Date:
ca. 1300-ca. 1350 (painted)
- Artist/Maker:
Master of Sant'Alo' (Possibly, painted by)
- Materials and Techniques:
Tempera on panel
- Museum number:
20-1869
- Gallery location:
Medieval and Renaissance, room 10, case 16
This is a small reliquary diptych which opens and closes like a book. Its exterior shows traces of imitation marbling. Its interior comprises painted panels divided by a hollowed-out area in the middle which still holds relics, wrapped in paper and labelled. At the top left is depicted the Virgin and Child enthroned, flanked by St. Blasius and St. Nicholas. Below appear St. Bartholomew, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Urban, St. Agatha and St. Anthony. At the top right the Crucifixion is represented, with a male donor wearing a monastic habit, flanked by the Virgin and St. John the Evangelist, St. Scholastica and St. Agnese. Below appear St. Emilian, St. Costanza and an unidentified female saint. Their names are inscribed in Latin beneath the figures.
Relics of saints played a major role in medieval religious life. Although they were venerated, relics not supposed to be worshipped, and acted as an aid to secure the intercession of saints. They were often kept in reliquaries, accompanied by images of their saints. In this example, only St. Bartholomew, who holds his customary knife, is readily identifiable by an accompanying attribute. The black robe of the donor figure suggests that he was a Benedictine monk. The generic character of the images of bishops and holy women may indicate that the diptych was made to accommodate a collection of relics which was still being added to. Its small scale suggests that it was intended to be portable.
It is unknown who made this reliquary, but it was most probably produced in the vicinity of Spoleto in Umbria in the 1320s, perhaps in a monastic workshop. Its style closely resembles that of two small panels from the church of Sant' Alo' in Spoleto. Although this diptych is made of modest materials - gilded and painted wood - rather than the precious metals and expensive enamels reserved for grander reliquaries, it has been carefully painted, with exquisitely-delineated draperies, by an artist of considerable skill.
