''San Giovenale Triptych'' is a 1422 painting by Italian

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

artist

Masaccio Masaccio (, , ; December 21, 1401 – summer 1428), born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, was a Florentine artist who is regarded as the first great Italian painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance. According to Vasari, ...

, housed in the Masaccio Museum of Sacred Art at Cascia di Reggello, in the

Metropolitan City of Florence The Metropolitan City of Florence ( it, Città Metropolitana di Firenze) is an administrative division called metropolitan city in the Tuscany region, Italy. Its capital is the city of Florence. It replaced the Province of Florence. It was first c ...

. The triptych is the first work attributed to Masaccio and the earliest known painting essay using the geometric Renaissance perspective.

Description

The Triptych is a tempera on wooden panels . The central panel is and the two side panels are . At the bottom of the panels, the inscriptions are in modern humanist letters for the first time in Europe, not inscribed in Gothic characters: (ANNO DO)MINI MCCCCXXII A DI VENTITRE D'AP(RILE) - pril 23, 1422- under the central panel (PLE)NA DOMINUS. TECUM. BENEDICTA - on the throne step and traces of the saints' names on the side panels. The central panel shows the

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

enthroned with two angels and the

child Jesus The Christ Child, also known as Divine Infant, Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, the Divine Child, Child Jesus, the Holy Child, Santo Niño, and to some as Señor Noemi refers to Jesus Christ from his nativity to age 12. The four canonical gospels, ...

. The halo of the Madonna bears the

Shahada The ''Shahada'' (Arabic: ٱلشَّهَادَةُ , "the testimony"), also transliterated as ''Shahadah'', is an Islamic oath and creed, and one of the Five Pillars of Islam and part of the Adhan. It reads: "I bear witness that there is n ...

written backwards. The left panel depicts

Saint Bartholomew Bartholomew (Aramaic: ; grc, Βαρθολομαῖος, translit=Bartholomaîos; la, Bartholomaeus; arm, Բարթողիմէոս; cop, ⲃⲁⲣⲑⲟⲗⲟⲙⲉⲟⲥ; he, בר-תולמי, translit=bar-Tôlmay; ar, بَرثُولَماو� ...

and

Saint Blaise Blaise of Sebaste ( hy, Սուրբ Վլասի, ''Surb Vlasi''; el, Ἅγιος Βλάσιος, ''Agios Vlasios''; ) was a physician and bishop of Sebastea in historical Armenia (modern Sivas, Turkey) who is venerated as a Christian saint and m ...

, and the right panel depicts Saint Anthony Abbot and Saint Juvenal (Giovenale). The left and right panels show a marked influence of 14th-century models, while the center panel's complex perspective has been something new for its time. Also, the use of three-dimensional solidity makes the painting revolutionary for its time.

History

Masaccio painted the Triptych when he was 21 years old, probably commissioned by the family of Castellani or by that of Carnesecchi for the small church of San Giovenale, from the Romanic Church at Cascia di Reggello. The presence on the painting of the eponymous saint confirms its original location. Furthermore, the church is about 20 km from Castel San Giovanni in Altura (

San Giovanni Valdarno San Giovanni Valdarno is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Arezzo, Tuscany, central Italy, located in the valley of the Arno River. History According to the Italian medieval historian Giovanni Villani, the town was founded in 1296, by ...

), Masaccio's birthplace. The Triptych remained in San Giovenale Church for centuries until its rediscovering in 1961. The work was in a state of poor preservation, and the first who took care of it was the art historian Luciano Berti. After 27 years, meanwhile kept in the superintendency's storage areas, it was placed in the Romanesque church of San Pietro a Cascia, and then in 2002, in the Museum of Sacred Art.Rinascimento in Valdarno, a cura di Caterina Caneva, Edizioni Polistampa, 2007

References

External links

Masaccio Museum of Sacred Art600th anniversary websitePiccoli Grandi Musei

Masaccio Museum in Reggello

Visit Reggello
{{Authority control Paintings by Masaccio 1422 paintings Paintings of the Madonna and Child Paintings of Anthony the Great Triptychs Angels in art Paintings of Bartholomew the Apostle