The Golden Legend describes how Saint Fronto, the first Bishop of Perigueux, in southern France, dreamed he assisted Christ at the funeral of Saint Martha, one of the two sisters of Lazarus, whom Christ raised from the dead. The inscription on the scroll refers to the fact that Christ had been a guest at their house. The style is closely related to Sano's work as a miniaturist.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:The Burial of Saint Martha
Artist:Sano di Pietro (Ansano di Pietro di Mencio) (Italian, Siena 1405–1481 Siena)
Date:ca. 1460–70
Medium:Tempera and gold on wood
Dimensions:5 1/2 x 11 1/2 in. (14 x 29.2 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Bequest of Adele L. Lehman, in memory of Arthur Lehman, 1965
Accession Number:65.181.7
Inscription: Inscribed (on scroll held by Christ): i[n] memoria [a]eterna / erit giusta ospida mea (In everlasting memory shall be my righteous hostess)
James Dennistoun, Dennistoun, Kilmacolm, co. Renfrew, Scotland (until d. 1855; his estate sale, Christie's, London, June 14, 1855, no. 16, as "The death of Santa Monaca," by Sano di Pietro, for £9.9.0); Henry Labouchere, Lord Taunton, Stoke Park, Stoke Poges, Bucks., and Quantock Lodge, Bridgwater, Somerset (until d. 1869); his daughter, the Hon. Mary Dorothy Labouchere, later Mrs. Edward James Stanley, Quantock Lodge (1869–about 1920); [R. Langton Douglas, London, until 1921; sold to Lehman]; Arthur Lehman, New York (1921–d. 1936); Mrs. Arthur (Adele L.) Lehman, New York (1936–d. 1965)
Emile Gaillard. "'The Burial of St. Martha' by Sano di Pietro." Burlington Magazine 40 (May 1922), pp. 237–39, ill., attributes it to Sano di Pietro and identifies the subject.
Emile Gaillard. Un peintre siennois au XVe siècle: Sano di Pietro, 1406–1481. Chambéry, 1923, p. 204.
Raimond van Marle. The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting. Vol. 9, Late Gothic Painting in Tuscany. The Hague, 1927, pp. 522–23, dates it to Sano's late period.
Bernhard Berenson. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Oxford, 1932, p. 500.
Bernhard Berenson. Pitture italiane del rinascimento. Milan, 1936, p. 430.
George Kaftal. Iconography of the Saints in Tuscan Painting. Florence, 1952, col. 681.
Claus Virch. The Adele and Arthur Lehman Collection. New York, 1965, pp. 23–24, ill.
Bernard Berenson. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: Central Italian and North Italian Schools. London, 1968, vol. 1, p. 376.
Burton B. Fredericksen and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth-Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, Mass., 1972, pp. 182, 428, 609.
Hugh Brigstocke. "Memoirs of the Dukes of Urbino, James Dennistoun: Collector and Traveller." Connoisseur 198 (August 1978), p. 321, fig. 11.
Denys Sutton. "Robert Langton Douglas, Part III, XV: The War Years." Apollo 109 (June 1979), p. 436.
Federico Zeri with the assistance of Elizabeth E. Gardner. Italian Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sienese and Central Italian Schools. New York, 1980, p. 83, pl. 57, note that it seems to be a late work.
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 59, ill.
This picture is a predella panel from an unidentified altarpiece.
The subject is taken from "The Golden Legend" of Jacobus de Voragine (1941 ed., pp. 394–95). Saint Fronto (or Front, or Frontonius), the first Bishop of Perigueux, in southern France, dreamed that he assisted at the burial of Saint Martha in Tarascon. Christ, at Saint Martha's head, is flanked by two angels. The inscription on the scroll held by Christ refers to the fact that He had been a guest at the house of Mary and Martha. Saint Fronto, at Saint Martha's feet, is accompanied by a deacon.
Workshop of Sano di Pietro (Ansano di Pietro di Mencio) (Italian, Siena 1405–1481 Siena)
ca. 1460–70
Resources for Research
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
