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The ''Novitiate Altarpiece'' or ''Madonna and Child with Saints'' is a c.1440-1445 tempera on panel painting by 
Entirely in Lippi's own hand, it was probably commissioned by Cosimo the Elder, as suggested by the presence of Cosmas and Damian, his family's patrons. It was probably originally intended for the Noviziato chapel in Santa Croce Basilica, of which the Medici were patrons. In 1813, during the Napoleonic suppression of churches and religious houses in Italy, the altarpiece and predella were both taken to Paris. The predella's first two sections remain in the
The ''Novitiate Altarpiece'' or ''Madonna and Child with Saints'' is a c.1440-1445 tempera on panel painting by Filippo Lippi
Filippo Lippi ( – 8 October 1469), also known as Lippo Lippi, was an Italian painter of the Quattrocento (15th century) and a Carmelite Priest.
Biography
Lippi was born in Florence in 1406 to Tommaso, a butcher, and his wife. He was orp ...
, now in the Uffizi
The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...
in Florence. A sacra conversazione
In art, a (; plural: ''sacre conversazioni''), meaning holy (or sacred) conversation, is a genre developed in Italian Renaissance painting, with a depiction of the Virgin and Child (the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus) amidst a group of saints ...
, it originally had a 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 ...
painted by Pesellino
Francesco Pesellino (probably 1422–July 29, 1457), also known as Francesco di Stefano, was an Italian Renaissance painter active in Florence. His father was the painter Stefano di Francesco (died 1427), and his maternal grandfather was the pai ...
centred on a ''Nativity''. The main panel shows Cosmas and Damian
Cosmas and Damian ( ar, قُزما ودميان, translit=Qozma wa Demyaan; grc-gre, Κοσμᾶς καὶ Δαμιανός, translit=Kosmás kai Damianós; la, Cosmas et Damianus; AD) were two Arab physicians in the town Cyrrhus, and were r ...
either side of the Madonna and Child, whilst Francis of Assisi
Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...
is shown at far left and Anthony of Padua
Anthony of Padua ( it, Antonio di Padova) or Anthony of Lisbon ( pt, António/Antônio de Lisboa; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese people, Portuguese Catholic Church, Catholic priesthood (Cath ...
at far right. On an architectural frieze above the figures are the Medici
The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Muge ...
's heraldic balls.
Entirely in Lippi's own hand, it was probably commissioned by Cosimo the Elder, as suggested by the presence of Cosmas and Damian, his family's patrons. It was probably originally intended for the Noviziato chapel in Santa Croce Basilica, of which the Medici were patrons. In 1813, during the Napoleonic suppression of churches and religious houses in Italy, the altarpiece and predella were both taken to Paris. The predella's first two sections remain in the Louvre
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 ...
(''St Francis Receiving the Stigmata'' and ''The Healing of Justinian the Canon''), whilst the last three are now in the Uffizi with the main work (''Nativity'' and two ), accompanied by copies of the two Louvre sections.
References