At the center of this finely carved relief, heavenly angels with musical instruments surround the figure of Christ in Majesty. At the corners are symbols of the four Evangelists, authors of the Gospels. Saints John the Baptist and Margaret, associated with the commissioners of the altarpiece, appear at either side. Above them, in smaller scale, an earlier chapter in the Christian story is evoked by the scene of the angel Gabriel addressing the Virgin Mary with the news that she will be the mother of Jesus. At the time the Knights of Rhodes commissioned this altarpiece, they were notorious heavily armed sailors, pursuing Muslim merchant ships across the Mediterranean, often pillaging their cities and gaining great wealth in the process. The altarpiece is inscribed along the lower edge of the central panel: HOC OPUS FECIT MAGISTER AND[R]EAS DA GIONA MCCCCXXXIIII (This work was made by Master Andrea from Giona 1434).
#76. Altarpiece with Christ, Saint John the Baptist, and Saint Margaret
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Artwork Details
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Title:Altarpiece with Christ, Saint John the Baptist, and Saint Margaret
Artist:Andrea da Giona (Italian, active ca. 1434–46)
Date:1434
Geography:Made in Savona, Liguria, Italy
Culture:Italian
Medium:Marble (Carrara marble)
Dimensions:Overall: 72 x 80 x 5 in., 1614lb. (182.9 x 203.2 x 12.7 cm, 732.1kg) a: central panel: 505lb. (229066.5g) b: Top center: 210lb. (95255.4g) c: Saint John (L): 329lb. (149233.4g) d: Saint Margaret (R): 194lb. (87997.8g) e: Kneeling Angel: 121lb. (54885.2g) f: Bottom Central Panel: 181lb. (82101.1g) g: Plinth (L): 28lb. (12700.7g) h: Modern Plinth (R): 28lb. (12700.7g) i: Angel Wing (Modern): 18lb. (8164.7g)
Classification:Sculpture
Credit Line:The Cloisters Collection, 1962
Object Number:62.128a-i
Signature: Signed and Dated: Andrea de Giona, 1434.
Inscription: (left panel, on angel’s banderole): AVE . GRATIA . PLE[NA] (Hail [Mary] full of grace [Luke 1:28])
(left panel, on saint’s banderole): ECCE + AGNUS + dEI (Behold the lamb of God [John 1:29, John 1:36]
(center panel, on left page of Jesus’ book): EGO . / SVM . / LVX . / MONDI [should be MUNDI] (I am the light of the world [John 8:12])
(center panel, on right page of Jesus’ book): VIA . ET . V / ERIT / AS . (Way and Truth [John 14:6])
(center panel, along base): hOC . OPVS FECIT MAGISTER . And[R]EAS dE GIONA MCCCCXXXIIII (Master Andreas da Giona made this work [in] 1434)
From the church of San Giovanni Battista, Savona; Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, Savona (until 1774) ; Chiodo Family, Savona (until 1932) ; [ Francesco Romano, Florence (sold 1962)]
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Gentilini, Giancarlo. "Virtù ed eroi di un'impresa dimenticata: Il monumento di Vitaliano e Giovanni Borromeo." In Scultura lombarda del Rinascimento: I monumenti Borromeo, edited by Mauro Natale. Studi sull'Arte in Italia. Turin: Umberto Allemandi, 1997. pp. 60, 73, fig. 145.
Barnet, Peter, and Nancy Y. Wu. The Cloisters: Medieval Art and Architecture. New York and New Haven: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005. no. 85, pp. 121, 197.
Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Lisbeth, and Jack Soultanian. Italian Medieval Sculpture in The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Cloisters. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2010. no. 49, pp. 240–249.
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Damiani Cabrini, Laura. "I monumenti rinascimentali di Savona sotto la lente di Varni: Andrea da Giona, Antonio Maria Aprile e i d’Aria." In Santo Varni: conoscitore, erudito e artista tra Genova e l'Europa. Chiavari, 2018. pp. 27–32, fig. 2, 6, 9, 11.
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