DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52600#0100
58 BARTOLOMEO MONTAGNA
is a considerable lack of harmony in the composition
of the figures.
The lunettes, as already said, each contain the figure
of a standing saint in a niche ; the one in the centre
shows St. Blaise, in mitre and dark red mantle, seen in
volto di maestd ; the neighbouring ones, to the left
and the right, two young men with palm-branches,
probably meant for the two holy youths, Nazarus and
Celsus, to whom the adjacent church was dedicated
(or possibly for the two boys who were beheaded
together with St. Blaise) ; in the four other lunettes
there are white-haired and venerable old men deep
in thought or fervent prayer.1
The ancona which originally adorned the high altar
of the church of SS. Nazaro e Celso, consisted of two
rows of three panels each, the one above the other.
The pictures in the lower row were tall rectangles,
with full-length figures ; in the central one the
Madonna with the Child ; in that to the left St. John
the Baptist and St. Benedict, the titular saint of the
friars of SS. Nazaro e Celso ; in that to the right, the
two patron saints of the church. The upper com-
partments were smaller, the two outside ones containing
half-length figures of saints, viz., in that to the left,
St. Blaise and a holy Franciscan bishop, in that to the
right, St. Juliana and a Franciscan martyr ; the central
compartment showed a Pietd. For more than two
centuries, this ancona was to be seen in the place for
1 First lunette (counting from left to right) : An old man in deep
red cassock, surplice and brown cloak, holding a book with both hands.
Second do. : An old man in violet cassock and red cloak, praying.
Third do. : A youth, in green jacket and red cloak, holding a palm-branch
in his right hand. Fourth do. : St. Blaise (see supra). Fifth do. :
A youth, in red jacket and green cloak, holding a palm-branch in his
right hand. Sixth do. : An old bishop in grey mantle, accompanied
by a child. Seventh do. : An old man, in green cassock, surplice and
deep red cloak, holding a book with both hands.
is a considerable lack of harmony in the composition
of the figures.
The lunettes, as already said, each contain the figure
of a standing saint in a niche ; the one in the centre
shows St. Blaise, in mitre and dark red mantle, seen in
volto di maestd ; the neighbouring ones, to the left
and the right, two young men with palm-branches,
probably meant for the two holy youths, Nazarus and
Celsus, to whom the adjacent church was dedicated
(or possibly for the two boys who were beheaded
together with St. Blaise) ; in the four other lunettes
there are white-haired and venerable old men deep
in thought or fervent prayer.1
The ancona which originally adorned the high altar
of the church of SS. Nazaro e Celso, consisted of two
rows of three panels each, the one above the other.
The pictures in the lower row were tall rectangles,
with full-length figures ; in the central one the
Madonna with the Child ; in that to the left St. John
the Baptist and St. Benedict, the titular saint of the
friars of SS. Nazaro e Celso ; in that to the right, the
two patron saints of the church. The upper com-
partments were smaller, the two outside ones containing
half-length figures of saints, viz., in that to the left,
St. Blaise and a holy Franciscan bishop, in that to the
right, St. Juliana and a Franciscan martyr ; the central
compartment showed a Pietd. For more than two
centuries, this ancona was to be seen in the place for
1 First lunette (counting from left to right) : An old man in deep
red cassock, surplice and brown cloak, holding a book with both hands.
Second do. : An old man in violet cassock and red cloak, praying.
Third do. : A youth, in green jacket and red cloak, holding a palm-branch
in his right hand. Fourth do. : St. Blaise (see supra). Fifth do. :
A youth, in red jacket and green cloak, holding a palm-branch in his
right hand. Sixth do. : An old bishop in grey mantle, accompanied
by a child. Seventh do. : An old man, in green cassock, surplice and
deep red cloak, holding a book with both hands.