Six Angels

The series of six angels (1975.1.65a-f) are mounted with the frame of a panel depicting the Crucifixion (1975.1.65) and are fragments of an altarpiece; however their current arrangement does not reflect that of the original altarpiece but rather a reconfiguration by a 19th-century collector. The Crucifixion originally formed the altarpiece's central pinnacle while the Six Angels originally comprised pilasters. The altarpiece was probably painted for Santa Maria degli Angeli, the Camaldolese church of Florence, perhaps for the chapel founded in 1365 and dedicated to Ognissanti (All Saints), which was funded by Ser Francesco di Ser Berto degli Albizzi. The altarpiece and its components have been variously attributed to members of the renowned family of Florentine painters: the brothers Andrea (known as Orcagna), Nardo, and Jacopo di Cione. The commission may have been given to Nardo in 1365 and taken over by Jacopo, following Nardo's death in 1366. The Cione brothers, especially Nardo, were involved in multiple commissions for Santa Maria degli Angeli.