The Cervara Altarpiece or Cervara Polyptych was an oil-on-oak-panel altarpiece painted by the Flemish painter

Gerard David Gerard David (c. 1460 – 13 August 1523) was an Early Netherlandish painter and manuscript illuminator known for his brilliant use of color. Only a bare outline of his life survives, although some facts are known. He may have been the Meester ...

early in the 16th century for the high altar of Cervara Abbey in

Liguria it, Ligure , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

History

It was commissioned by the Genoese nobleman Vincenzo Sauli on 7 September 1506, as dated in a 17th-century document - Sauli's name is painted above the Virgin's feet in the central panel. David painted it in

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the country by population. The area of the whole city a ...

and it was installed in the Abbey in 1507.

Description

It was originally formed of seven panels, which were divided up after the monastery's suppression and requisition in 1797 by the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the La ...

. The separated panels were initially deposited in the Palais Ducal, seat of the prefecture, and only four panels remained in Genoa. These four were the central one (measuring 153 by 89 cm and showing the Madonna and Child Enthroned or the Madonna of the Grapes), two side panels (each measuring 152.5 by 64 cm and showing

saint Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is co ...

and

saint Maurus Maurus (french: Maur; it, Mauro) was the first disciple of Benedict of Nursia (512–584). He is mentioned in Gregory the Great's biography of the latter as the first oblate, offered to the monastery by his noble Roman parents as a young bo ...

) and an upper central panel (measuring 102 by 88 cm and showing the

Crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagi ...

). The central ''Virgin and Child'' and the upper ''Crucifixion'' panels were rediscovered in the Palazzo Ducale in 1805. In 1830 the painter

Francesco Baratta the elder Francesco Baratta the elder (c. 1590–1666) was an Italian sculptor of the Baroque period. He was born in Massa, Tuscany, Massa di Carrara, and moved to Rome to work under Gian Lorenzo Bernini. He was one of many siblings, one of whom, Francesco ...

supervised their transfer to the mayor's office in the Palazzo Tursi, the civic palazzo, and later into the

Palazzo Bianco Palazzo Bianco ( en, White Palace) is one of the main buildings of the center of Genoa, Italy. It is situated at 11, via Garibaldi (known at one time as ''Strada Nuova'', and before that, ''Via Aurea''). It contains the Gallery of the White Pala ...

gallery. The altarpiece's three remaining panels were later rediscovered in Italy. Two of these were the two upper side panels of the Annunciation, now in the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in New York, with one showing the angel and one the Virgin. A final semicircular panel from above the Crucifixion is now in the

Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

in Paris - this shows God the Father with his hand raised in blessing, surrounded by angels. All seven panels were re-united at the Palazzo Bianco in autumn 2005.

References

{{Authority control 1506 paintings Paintings by Gerard David Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Paintings in the Louvre by Flemish artists History of Genoa Paintings of Jerome Polyptychs Paintings of the Madonna and Child Angels in art Paintings depicting the Crucifixion of Jesus Paintings in the Musei di Strada Nuova God the Father in art