![Polittico stefaneschi, retro](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Polittico_stefaneschi%2C_retro.jpg)
The ''Stefaneschi Altarpiece'' is a
triptych
A triptych ( ; from the Greek language, Greek adjective ''τρίπτυχον'' "''triptukhon''" ("three-fold"), from ''tri'', i.e., "three" and ''ptysso'', i.e., "to fold" or ''ptyx'', i.e., "fold") is a work of art (usually a panel painting) t ...
by the Italian painter
Giotto
Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto ( , ) and Latinised as Giottus, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the Gothic/Proto-Renaissance period. Giot ...
(c. 1267 – 1337), commissioned by
Cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to:
Animals
* Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae
**''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
Giacomo Gaetani Stefaneschi
Giacomo Gaetani Stefaneschi (c. 1270 – 23 June 1343) was an Italian cardinal deacon.
Life
Born in Rome, he was the son of the senator Pietro Stefaneschi and his wife, Perna Orsini. He received his early education at Rome, and was sent t ...
to serve as an
altarpiece
An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...
for one of the altars of
Old St. Peter's Basilica
Old St. Peter's Basilica was the building that stood, from the 4th to 16th centuries, where the new St. Peter's Basilica stands today in Vatican City. Construction of the basilica, built over the historical site of the Circus of Nero, began durin ...
in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
.
It is now at the
Pinacoteca Vaticana
The Vatican Museums ( it, Musei Vaticani; la, Musea Vaticana) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of ...
, Rome.
Description
It is a rare example in Giotto's work of a documented commission, and includes Giotto's signature, although the date, like most dates for Giotto, is disputed, and many scholars feel the artist's workshop was responsible for its execution. It had long been thought to have been made for the main altar of the church; more recent research suggests that it was placed on the "canon's altar", located in the
nave
The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...
, just to the left of the huge arched opening into the
transept
A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...
. The
altar
An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...
was freestanding, and the altarpiece is painted on both sides so it could be seen by the congregation from the front and the canons of the church from the back.
The central front panel represents
Saint Peter
Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...
enthroned, flanked by saints, with Cardinal Stefaneschi himself kneeling at Peter's right offering up this altarpiece in reduced size. Saints
James
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
and
Paul
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
*Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...
are in the left panel and
John the Evangelist
John the Evangelist ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης, Iōánnēs; Aramaic: ܝܘܚܢܢ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ; ar, يوحنا الإنجيلي, la, Ioannes, he, יוחנן cop, ⲓⲱⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ or ⲓⲱ̅ⲁ) is the name traditionally given t ...
and
Andrew
Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in List of countries where English is an official language, English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is freq ...
are on the right. Two of the three predella panels are lost, but they surely all represented half-length figures of saints. The back main (central) panel represents Christ enthroned flanked by angels with a kneeling Cardinal Stefaneschi at his right foot. In the left panel we see the crucifixion of Peter, and on the right is the beheading of St. Paul. The predella depicts the
Virgin 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 ...
flanked by angels in the center and standing figures of the 12 apostles at the sides.
The altarpiece stood before the apse of Old St. Peter's, which in the 14th century contained a mosaic of Christ enthroned between Saints. Peter & Paul. Thus the iconography of the front of the painting paralleled the apse mosaic in form but did not repeat it in iconography. The central panel of the back of the altarpiece duplicated the apse mosaic for those who could not see it (because they sat with their backs to it), while the side panels introduced narratives. It was normal for double-sided altarpieces in this period to have an iconic image on the front and narrative images on the back. Peter echoes Christ's pose to emphasize the role of the pope (Peter was the first pope) as Christ's representative on earth.
![Polittico Stefaneschi, dettaglio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Polittico_Stefaneschi%2C_dettaglio.jpg)
Giotto represents the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul as taking place in recognizable locales, frequently visited by pilgrims to Rome. Peter's crucifixion is placed between the ''
Meta Romuli
The Meta Romuli (in Latin ''mēta Rōmulī'' , transl.: "Pyramid of Romulus"; also named "Piramide vaticana" or "Piramide di Borgo" in Italian) was a pyramid built in ancient Rome that is important for historical, religious and architectural reas ...
'' (a
pyramid
A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...
near the Vatican, destroyed in the 15th century) and the
Terebinthus Neronis (a classical monument, likely a mausoleum, that no longer exists), while Paul's beheading is outside the city, near a round building that represents the church of
San Paolo alle Tre Fontane
San Paolo alle Tre Fontane (Italian), in English "St Paul at the Three Fountains" is a Roman Catholic church dedicated to St Paul the Apostle, at the presumed site of his martyrdom in Rome. In Latin it is known as Sancti Pauli ad Aquas Salvias ("St ...
, the site of the Saint’s beheading South of Rome. These scenes could also be found in the medieval frescoes on the walls of the nave of Old St. Peter's. Although images of donors in church decorations in Rome went back to the Early Christian period, Giotto's altarpiece for St. Peter's is unusual in both the double representation of the donor (front and back) and the specificity of the face and costume of Cardinal Stefaneschi. Stefaneschi is dressed in full ceremonial costume as a cardinal on the front, appropriate for the "public" face of the altarpiece and is introduced to St. Peter by St. George. On the back, he is more modestly dressed as a canon, like the audience for this side of the painting.
Vasari
Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculpt ...
cited portraiture as one of the greatest strengths of Giotto's art.
[Maginnis, 386–390.]
The depiction of Stefaneschi holding this very painting suggests that it originally had a significantly more elaborate frame, which would have made the relatively small altarpiece fit better into the large space that was Old St. Peter's. The characteristic of containing a smaller version of itself provides one of the earliest known Renaissance examples of the so-called "
Droste effect
The Droste effect (), known in art as an example of ''mise en abyme'', is the effect of a picture recursively appearing within itself, in a place where a similar picture would realistically be expected to appear. This produces a loop which in ...
", common in medieval art.
Notes
Sources
*Boskovits, Miklos, "Giotto a Roma", ''Arte Cristiana'', 88 (2000) 171–180.
*Gardner, Julian, "The Stefaneschi Altarpiece: A Reconsideration", ''Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes'', Vol. 37, (1974), pp. 57–103.
*Gosebruch, M., "Giottos Stefaneschi-Altarwerk aus Alt-St. Peter in Rom", ''Miscellanea Bibliotecae Hertzianae'', Munich, 1961, 101–130.
*von den Haegen, Anne Mueller, ''Giotto di Bondone'', trans. Lena Miller, Cologne, 1998, 80–85.
*Kemp,W., "Zum Program von Stefaneschi-Altar und Navicella", ''Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte'', 30 (1967) 309–320.
*Kempers, Bram & Sible de Blauuw. "Jacopo Stefaneschi, Patron and Liturgist: A New Hypothesis Regarding the Date, Iconography, Authorship, and Function of His Altarpiece for Old St. Peter's", ''Mededelingen van het Nederlands Instituut te Rome'' 47 (1987) 83–113.
*Kessler, Herbert L., "Giotto e Roma", in ''Giotto e il Trecento: "Il più Sovrano Maestro stato in dipintura"'', exh. cat., ed. Alessandro Tomei, Milan, 2009, 85–99.
*Maginnis, Hayden B.J., "Giotto's World through Vasari's Eyes", ''Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte'', 56 Bd., H. 3 (1993), pp. 385–408.
*Paoletti, John T. & Gary Radke, ''Art in Renaissance Italy'', 3rd ed., London, 2005.
External links
''The Vatican: spirit and art of Christian Rome'' a book from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on this triptych (p. 251)
{{Giotto
1320s paintings
Paintings by Giotto
Polyptychs
Paintings of the Madonna and Child
Paintings in the collection of the Vatican Museums
Paintings on gold backgrounds
Altarpieces
Paintings depicting Saint Peter