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Tabernacle frame

ca. 1404
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 952
The regilding on the frame engaged to this 'Crucified Christ between the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist' by Lorenzo Monaco (ca. 1370-1426) is datable to about 1950-60 and the capitals, bases, and bottom-edge molding are modern inventions, but the other moldings appear to be original. The lancet and pediment moldings are comparable to those on the fragments of original molding that survive on a 'Madonna and Child with Angels' in the Royal Collection, London, that Lorenzo Monaco's contemporary Gentile da Fabriano (1370-1427) painted for San Niccolò Oltrarno in Florence in 1425. The Lehman panel may have been the central pinnacle of an altarpiece Lorenzo Monaco painted in 1404, the central panel and two lateral pinnacles of which are in the Museo della Collegiata, Empoli. The way the lancet arch appears to widen to reveal the Crucifixion is dramatically reinforced by the strong horizontal moldings, which focus the viewer's attention on the horizontal timber of the cross, Christ's outstretched arms, and the look exchanged between the Virgin and Saint John. The shape of the frame's gabled top is repeated in the gold ground to create a mandorla with the Crucifixion at its center.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Tabernacle frame
  • Date: ca. 1404
  • Culture: Florentine
  • Medium: Spruce. Gilt; orange bole.
  • Dimensions: Overall: 33 11/16 × 16 1/2 in. (85.5 × 41.9 cm)
    Sight: 22 × 12 5/8 in. (55.9 × 32.1 cm)
  • Classification: Frames
  • Credit Line: Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
  • Object Number: 1975.1.67b
  • Curatorial Department: The Robert Lehman Collection

More Artwork

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The Crucified Christ between the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist, Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni) Italian, Tempera on wood, gold ground
The Crucified Christ between the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist
Lorenzo Monaco (Piero di Giovanni)
ca. 1406
Sansovino-style frame, Pine. Carved, gilt; dark mauve bole, thin gesso, dragon's blood and think green glazes., Florence
Sansovino-style frame
Florence
mid-16th century
One of a pair of pilaster panels, A single piece of poplar. Gilt; red-brown bole., Florentine
One of a pair of pilaster panels
Florentine
1385
One of a pair of pilaster panels, Poplar, Florentine
One of a pair of pilaster panels
Florentine
1385
Cassone, Pinewood and poplar, gesso, partly gilded, form molded, and painted., Italian (Tuscany, Florence or Siena)
Cassone
Italian (Tuscany, Florence or Siena)
ca. 1425–50

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