The Saint Maurelius Altarpiece was an oil on panel painting by

Cosmè Tura Cosmê Tura (c. 1430 – 1495), also known as Il Cosmè or Cosimo Tura (), was an Italian early-Renaissance (or Quattrocento) painter and considered one of the founders of the School of Ferrara (Painting), School of Ferrara. Biography Formati ...

, executed ''c.'' 1480, produced for the church of San Giorgio fuori le mura, site of

Maurelius of Voghenza Maurelius of Voghenza (Italian - ''San Maurelio''; died 7 May 644) was a Syrian priest, who became bishop of Voghenza. He is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. Life Little information survives on his life, though a Latin accoun ...

's shrine. Two tondos from it survive, ''Trial of St Maurelius'' and ''Martyrdom of St Maurelius'', both now in the city's Pinacoteca Nazionale. It was commissioned in the 1470s during a rebuilding of the church prior to its reconsecration. The work's original structure is unknown, but probably had a now-lost central panel of Maurelius himself with a number of panels (perhaps six) with episodes from his life, the only two survivors of which are the Pinacoteca panels. The two panels are the right shape perhaps to have formed part of 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 ...

, though they are larger than the usual size for such panels - the tondi of the Roverella Altarpiece by the same artist are 38 cm in diameter. The altarpiece fell into disrepair and in 1635 was replaced by one on the same subject by

Guercino Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vig ...

. The two tondos were moved to the church's

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is usually located ...

and then possibly to the neighbouring monastery. They came into the possession of Filippo Zafferini and in 1817 he passed them to Ferrara town council. The two paintings are among only a few of Tura's works still in Ferrara.

References

{{15C-painting-stub Paintings by Cosmè Tura Paintings in the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Ferrara Paintings of saints 1480 paintings