These three predella panels, among the greatest narratives painted in northern Italy in the early sixteenth century, were part of an enormous altarpiece made by Lotto for the Dominican Church of SS Stefano e Domenico in Bergamo—his first major work in the city. The side panels illustrate events from the lives of the two saints of most significance to the church. These saints are depicted closest to the Virgin’s throne in the main panel (see ill.). The panels bring the events before our eyes with remarkable vividness and unprecedented emotional fervor. In the first, Saint Dominic opens his arms over the sprawling figure of Napoleone Orsini, killed in an accident, whose uncle (the cardinal at left) clutches his hand to his heart. In the Entombment, the figures form a tight group around Christ as the Virgin swoons. In the last, executioners heave stones at the vulnerable deacon Saint Stephen. The figures move through atmospheric landscapes marked with ancient and modern buildings and bathed in ever-shifting light and shadow. The inventiveness and modernity of this altarpiece left an indelible impression on the painters of Bergamo.
