The ''Fano Altarpiece'' is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist

Pietro Perugino Pietro Perugino (, ; – 1523), born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance Painting, painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pup ...

, executed in 1497, and housed in the church of Santa Maria Nuova,

Fano Fano is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the ''Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by popula ...

, central Italy. It also includes a

lunette A lunette (French ''lunette'', "little moon") is a half-moon shaped architectural space, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void. A lunette may also be segmental, and the arch may be an arc take ...

with a ''Pietà'' and several

predella In art a predella (plural predelle) is the lowest part of an altarpiece, sometimes forming a platform or step, and the painting or sculpture along it, at the bottom of an altarpiece, sometimes with a single much larger main scene above, but oft ...

panels. Perugino had already painted an ''

Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

'' in 1488-1490. Several scholars have supposed that a young

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...

collaborated on the predella. Pietro Perugino cat45a

Description

The Madonna is portrayed on a luminous landscape of hills, on a high throne; in front of her is a pedestal with, on it, a mystic vase, and featuring the signature and date, which were always added by Perugino when the painting was produced in his workshop and then shipped to the destination. Mary holds the Child in the same fashion of the

Decemviri Altarpiece ''Decemviri Altarpiece'' (Italian: ''Pala dei Decemviri'') is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Pietro Perugino, executed in 1495–1496, and housed in the Pinacoteca Vaticana in Vatican City. The work was commissioned by the Decemviri ...

of 1495-1496. At the sides are the saints John the Baptist (with a camel skin and a stick with the cross),

Louis of Toulouse Saint Louis of Toulouse (9 February 1274 – 19 August 1297), also known as Louis of Anjou, was a Neapolitan prince of the Capetian House of Anjou and a Catholic bishop. Life Louis was born in Brignoles, Provence (or in Italy, at Nocera, where ...

, who wears a bishop dress, Francis of Assisi (reading), Peter with the Keys of Heaven, Paul (with a long beard and a red vest) and Mary Magdalene with offerings to the Madonna. The portico is a typical element of Perugino's paintings of the period, such as the Albani Torlonia Polyptych; also typical of his late works is the Madonna's figure as a more mature woman, different than the elegantly youthful portrayal painted before. Less usual are the differentiated proportions of the saints and of the Madonna herself. The lunette depicts Jesus raised from his sepulchre by

Joseph of Arimathea Joseph of Arimathea was, according to all four canonical gospels, the man who assumed responsibility for the burial of Jesus after his crucifixion. The historical location of Arimathea is uncertain, although it has been identified with several t ...

and Nicodemus, with Mary and John the Apostle at the sides. The predella includes the scenes of the ''Nativity of Mary'', the ''Presentation of Jesus at the Temple'', the ''Marriage of the Virgin'', the ''Annunciation'' and the ''Assumption''. In these secondary paintings Perugino used some of his typical themes, including the portico and the oval in a valley.

Predella.

Sources

* {{Pietro Perugino Paintings by Pietro Perugino 1497 paintings Paintings of the Madonna and Child Paintings in Fano Paintings depicting John the Baptist Paintings of Francis of Assisi Paintings of Louis of Toulouse Paintings depicting Saint Peter Books in art Altarpieces