The Porto San Giorgio Altarpiece or Porto San Giorgio Polytpych was a 1470 multi-panel tempera and gold on panel altarpiece by

Carlo Crivelli Carlo Crivelli (Venice, c. 1430 – Ascoli Piceno, c. 1495) was an Italian Renaissance painter of conservative Late Gothic decorative sensibility, who spent his early years in the Veneto, where he absorbed influences from the Vivarini ...

. Stylistically similar to Crivelli's Massa Fermana Altarpiece, the work was a fundamental step in his evolution away from the Paduan Renaissance towards a more delicate and realist style. Originally in San Giorgio church in

Porto San Giorgio Porto San Giorgio is a ''comune'' (town or municipality) in the Province of Fermo, in the Marche region of Italy. It has approximately 15,700 inhabitants (2021) and it is located on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. History Already famous at the tim ...

, Fermo, it was split up in the 19th century and sold in separate lots, meaning its panels are now split between a number of European and American museums.

History

A transcribed document in the Fermo archives (the original is now lost) states that the altarpiece was commissioned in 1470 by a man named Giorgio Salvadori, an Albanian immigrant to Italy fleeing the Ottoman advance after

Skanderbeg , reign = 28 November 1443 – 17 January 1468 , predecessor = Gjon Kastrioti , successor = Gjon Kastrioti II , spouse = Donika Arianiti , issue = Gjon Kastrioti II , royal house = Kastrioti , father ...

's death in 1468. He headed the Salvadori family, who owned the altarpiece for centuries and who eventually split it up. The work's dating is not only based on its style but also 18th century documents which state that a signature by Crivelli was once visible at the bottom of the frame, reading "CAROLUS CRIVELLUS VENETUS PINXIT ANNO 1470" - this is now illegible. It also appears in two inventories, one of 1727 by Anselmo Ercoli and another made in 1771 during a pastoral visit, the latter of which describes the altarpiece in minute detail and mentions that the same chapel also contained two paintings each with three saints and each with the Salvadori coat of arms (perhaps originally the altarpiece's

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 ...

and now lost). An 1805 document in the Salvadori family archives refers to a ''Last Supper'', compatible with the measurements of the paintings of "some saints" (a palm) and which may have formed the centre of the predella. Crivelli Saints Anthony and Lucia

In 1803 the old parish church was demolished and the altarpiece moved into the Suffragio church, which was hosting the church's services until a new San Giorgio was built. In 1832 the painting was in the Salvadori family home, still waiting for the new church's completion - there Maggiori saw it. By 1832, when it was seen by

Amico Ricci Amico Ricci Petrocchini, Petruccini or Petruchini (1794-1862) was an Italian art historian and marquess. He is most notable for his 1834 ''Memorie storiche delle arti e degli artisti della Marca di Ancona'', the first systematic survey of art h ...

, the new church was complete and the altarpiece was in it, though the half-length figures of saints had already been removed to stay in the Salvadori house. In 1835 the whole work was taken to Rome and sold in pieces to the Portuguese ambassador Hudson for 90

scudi The ''scudo'' (pl. ''scudi'') was the name for a number of coins used in various states in the Italian peninsula until the 19th century. The name, like that of the French écu and the Spanish and Portuguese escudo, was derived from the Latin ''scu ...

via Luigi Salvadori Paleotti. The prior of the monastic community of Porto San Giorgio claimed ownership of the altarpiece, however, and tried to contest the work's sale by the Salvadori family. A new payment of 300 scudi settled the dispute. It passed into the Ward and then Dudley collections, where Waagen saw it. It was exhibited at the

Egyptian Hall The Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly, London, was an exhibition hall built in the ancient Egyptian style in 1812, to the designs of Peter Frederick Robinson. The Hall was a considerable success, with exhibitions of artwork and of Napoleonic era re ...

in London, where it was seen by

Joseph Archer Crowe Sir Joseph Archer Crowe (25 October 1825, London – 6 September 1896, Werbach, Gamburg an der Tauber, today Werbach, Germany) was an England, English journalist, consular official and art historian, whose volumes of the ''History of Painti ...

and

Giovanni Battista Cavalcaselle Giovanni Battista Cavalcaselle (22 January 1819 – 31 October 1897) was an Italian writer and art critic, best known as part of "Crowe and Cavalcaselle", for the many works in English on art history he co-authored with Joseph Archer Crowe. T ...

. In

1876 Events January–March * January 1 ** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin. ** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol. * February 2 – The National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs i ...

, it was acquired by Martin Colnaghi at the sale of the Dudley collection and dispersed.

Reconstruction

Identifying the panels of the work and reconstructing the overall composition has been a long process, starting with

Philip Hendy Sir Philip Anstiss Hendy (27 September 1900 – 6 September 1980) was a British art curator who worked both in Britain and overseas, notably the United States. In 1923, he began his career in art administration as an Assistant Keeper and lectu ...

in 1931, who associated ''Saint Peter and Saint Paul'' (

National Gallery, London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

) with ''Saint George and the Dragon'' (

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts, which houses significant examples of European, Asian, and American art. Its collection includes paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and decorative arts. It was founded ...

Roberto Longhi Roberto Longhi (28 December 1890 – 3 June 1970) was an Italian academic, art historian, and curator. The main subjects of his studies were the painters Caravaggio and Piero della Francesca. Early life and career Longhi was born in December 189 ...

then identified the Cook Madonna (Washington) and the ''Porto San Giorgio Pietà'' (Detroit) as parts of the altarpiece in 1946, followed by

Federico Zeri Federico Zeri (12 August 1921 – 5 October 1998) was an Italian art historian specialised in Italian Renaissance painting. He wrote for the Italian newspaper '' La Stampa'', and was a well known television-personality in Italy. Zeri was born i ...

identifying ''Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Jerome'' as another part in 1950. The final piece to be found was ''Saint Anthony Abbot and Saint Lucy'', identified by J. Bialostocki in 1956. The whole altarpiece was reunited in 1961 in Venice at a monographic exhibition on Crivelli and now at Porto San Giorgio there is only a copy of that reconstruction. At the top was 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 ...

depicting a pieta (now

Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, has one of the list of largest art museums, largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it covers with a major renovation a ...

). Each side panel consisted of a smaller lunette and a main panel - that on the left had ''Saint Peter and Saint Paul'' (now

) below a lunette of ''Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Jerome'' (now

Philbrook Museum of Art Philbrook Museum of Art is an art museum with expansive formal gardens located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The museum, which opened in 1939, is located in a former 1920s villa, "Villa Philbrook", the home of Oklahoma oil pioneer Waite Phillips and his wi ...

), whilst that on the right had ''Saint George and the Dragon'' (now

) below a lunette of ''Saint Anthony Abbot and St Lucy'' (now

National Museum, Kraków The National Museum in Kraków ( pl, Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie), popularly abbreviated as MNK, is the largest museum in Poland, and the main branch of Poland's National Museum, which has several independent branches with permanent collections arou ...

). The central panel, now known as the ''Cook Madonna'', is a

Madonna and Child In art, a Madonna () is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word is (archaic). The Madonna and Child type is very prevalent in ...

now in the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

in Washington.

Gallery

File:Carlo crivelli, Santi Pietro e Paolo, 87x44 cm, Londra, National Gallery.jpg, ''Saint Peter and Saint Paul'', London File:Carlo Crivelli - Saint George Slaying the Dragon, 1470.jpg, ''Saint George and the Dragon'', Boston Carlo Crivelli - The Deposition of Christ - 25.35 - Detroit Institute of Arts.jpg, ''Pietà'', Detroit File:Carlo crivelli, Santi Caterina d'Alessandria e Girolamo, 35x48,9 cm, Tulsa, Philbrook Art Center.jpg, ''Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Jerome'', Tulsa

Bibliography

* Pietro Zampetti, ''Carlo Crivelli'', Nardini Editore, Firenze 1986. * Rossi Iommetti Pierluigi, ''Il polittico di Porto San Giorgio'', Roma 2014. ISBN SIP0405014 * * * {{Carlo Crivelli Paintings by Carlo Crivelli Altarpieces 1470 paintings