The Life of St Anthony the Abbot in a Sienese Altarpiece

One of the most beautiful depictions of episodes from the life of St Anthony the Abbot, whose feast is kept today, is a series of eight panels from an altarpiece painted in Siena sometime between 1425-50. The anonymous artist, to whom many other paintings are attributed, is referred to as the Master of the Osservanza, the name of a church on the outskirts of the city where he worked. (“Osservanza” was the common term for a group of Franciscans who sought to return to the observance of the most primitive and austere form of the Rule of St Francis.) Various theories have been proposed as to the altarpiece’s commission and destination; the depiction of St Anthony in a black habit may suggest that it was originally made for an Augustinian church, an hypothesis supported by the fact that the reading of St Athanasius’ Life of Anthony was a decisive moment in St Augustine’s conversion. The altarpiece was later broken up, and the different panels are now scattered through various museums, which will be noted in the individual explanations of each one. (All images are in the public domain in the United States; taken from this Wikimedia Commons page unless otherwise noted.)

The first panel is set inside the cathedral of Siena. On the right side, St Anthony is shown very young, kneeling in prayer at the high altar. (The artist gives us a glimpse of one of the crown jewels of Sienese art, the famous Maestà of Duccio di Buoninsegna.) On the left side, an older Anthony, richly dressed like a wealthy man of the 15th century, is attending Mass; as recounted by St Athanasius, his decision to become a monk was inspired by hearing at Mass the words of the Gospel (Matt. 19, 21), as if they were being spoken to himself, “If thou would be perfect, go and sell all that thou hast, and give it to the poor, and come, follow me.” (We cannot assume that every depiction of the liturgy in the art of this period is attempting to be strictly accurate, but note the blue chasuble and the single candle on the altar. – This panel is now in the Berlin Gemälde-Gallerie.)

St Anthony sells his possessions and distributes the money to the poor. The building which dominates the composition is typical of Sienese Gothic architecture; many similar structures can still be seen there to this day. Over the Saint’s head, in the tympanum of the building’s door, is the crest of a prominent family, the Martinozzi; a member of this family, a Franciscan named Giovanni, was martyred for the Faith in 1345 in Egypt, St Anthony’s native country. This would seem to suggest that it was commissioned by them, but there are strong arguments to the contrary. (See Painting in Renaissance Siena, by Christiansen, Kanter and Strehlke, the catalog of a show held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1988, p. 105. – This panel and the following one are now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.)

After living in a monastery for several years, and overcoming many temptations, St Anthony decides to depart to a more isolated place in the desert, and live as a hermit; here, he is seen receiving the blessing of one of the monks. One of the responsories of his proper Office describes this first phase of his monastic life as follows: R. The most blessed man went to the cells of the monks, paying close attention of the lives of the fathers, and the virtues of each one, * and he bore great fruit, like the bees who bring forth honey after tasting (many) flowers. V. Eagerly did he follow the temperance of this fellow, the humility of that one, the patience of another. And he bore...

St Anthony is tempted by a devil, who appears to him in the guise of a woman. Note that the Saint is now considerably older than he was in the previous panel; the devil is identified as such by the bat wings on its back. (This panel and the following one are now in the Yale Univ. Art Gallery; the first image of these two was downloaded from their website.)

St Athanasius tells of the many times when St Anthony struggled against devils, not only by resisting temptations, but also suffering bodily harm that they were permitted to inflict upon him. On one such occasion, “a multitude of demons … so cut him with stripes that he lay on the ground speechless from the excessive pain.” He was discovered unconscious by the local villagers, who thought him dead, and brought him to their church, here depicted in the background. (Life of Anthony 8 and 9) 

On another occasion, St Anthony was tempted by a heap of gold which the devil left by the side of the road where he was passing. This was originally painted in real gold leaf that was later scraped off, leaving the Saint to confront a completely harmless-looking rabbit. (This panel is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.)

The seventh panel shows St Anthony’s dealings with St Paul the First Hermit, which I described two days ago in an article for the feast day of the latter. At the upper left, St Anthony sets out to find St Paul; on the right, slightly lower, he is guided on his way by a centaur; and at the bottom, the two Saints embrace. At the very top in the middle is depicted the same rose-colored church seen in the previous panel, to indicate that Anthony has journeyed far into the desert to find Paul. (This panel and the following are now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., from which this image was downloaded.)

The final panel depicts St Anthony’s funeral, specifically, the Absolution at the catafalque, which is being done exactly as in the traditional Roman Rite. The catalog cited above notes that the arrangement of the scene, with one person kneeling on one side of the bier, and the rest gathered around in a semi-circle, is reminiscent of several Renaissance depictions of the funeral of St Francis. The pink and black stripes on the church’s walls are very typically Sienese.

The Cathedral of Siena (Part 14): Vestments in the Cathedral Museum

This is the final post in our series on the cathedral of Siena, which started just over two months ago on November 18, the anniversary of the church’s dedication. Here we show a few of the very nice vestments displayed in the cathedral museum; these are kept behind glass for protection, obviously, which makes for less-than-ideal photography. (The museum also doesn’t provide much information about them.) Thanks once again to Nicola for sharing these pictures with us.

A burse embroidered with images of two early local martyrs, Abundantius and Abundius; originally made for a monastery dedicated to them, which was the oldest in the city. (The relics of these Saints were translated to the main Jesuit church in Rome by order of Pope Gregory XIII in 1583.)

A chasuble decorated with images of the Last Supper, Resurrection and Ascension, evidently designed to be used on the relevant feast days. This is known as “the Raphael chasuble” from the tradition that it was designed by the painter Raphael while he was in Siena as a young man, and working as an assistant to Pinturicchio in the decoration of the Piccolomini library.  

An unusually well-preserved late medieval chasuble, made in Lucca in the early 14th century.

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The Cathedral of Siena (Part 13): Liturgical Objects in the Cathedral Museum

The next-to-last part of our series on the cathedral of Siena focuses mostly on liturgical objects, including a very beautiful set of all the items needed for solemn Mass, donated by Pope Alexander VII Chigi (1655-66), a native of the city who showered the church with gifts and artistic commissions. We also see here some very nice reliquaries, medieval ivory crooks, and pax bredes.

A golden rose designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and gifted to the cathedral by Pope Alexander in 1658; the base represents the six hills on which the city stands, also seen below in the Pope’s coat of arms. The celebrated artist was a close personal friend of the Pope and worked for him on many artistic projects in Rome and environs. 

A papal tiara also donated by Pope Alexander VII...

whose coat of arms is seen on the outside of its box. The Sienese banking family of the Chigi had moved to Rome at the beginning of the 16th century, and restarted their bank with a large loan from Pope Julius II Della Rovere. The “interest” which Pope charged was not monetary, but a promise to quarter their arms with his wherever they were publically displayed; hence the quartering of the six hlls of Siena (Chigi) with the oak tree (Della Rovere.)

Statues with relics of several Saints brought from Roma embedded in the busts, including Saints Peter, Paul and Lawrence.

A complete set of liturgical accoutrement donated by Pope Alexander for the altar of the chapel which he had built in 1660 for the Madonna del Voto.

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The Cathedral of Siena (Part 12): Paintings and Sculptures in the Cathedral Museum

The remaining three parts of our series on the cathedral of Siena (which began two months ago!) will all be about items now in the church’s museum. This first part will cover major artworks which were formerly in the cathedral (apart from the most important, the Maestà of Duccio di Buoninsegna, which already had its own post), the second liturgical objects, and the third vestments. Our thanks once again to Nicola for sharing these photos with us.

The Crevole Madonna, by Duccio, ca. 1284, one of his very earliest works, named for a small town about 12 miles to the south of Siena where it was originally displayed. The Byzantine influence on the artist, who was then about 30 years old, is particularly evident in the use of gold lines to create the sense of depth in the Virgin’s robes. By the time he painted the Maestà, about 25 years later, he had shifted, very much under the influence of Giotto, towards one of the key techniques of Renaissance painting, omitting the lines and creating the sense of depth with different shades of color.

Part of an altarpiece by another Sienese native, and one of the best painters of the generation after Duccio, Ambrogio Lorenzetti (1290 ca. – 1348), a real master of optical perspective; ca. 1320-30. From left to right: St Benedict in the white habit of the Olivetan Benedictines, who were founded by a native of Siena, St Bernard Tolomei; St Catherine of Alexandria; St Mary Magdelene; St Francis. In the cuspids, left to right, St Peter, St John the Evangelist, St John the Baptist, and St Paul. Note how the variation in shades within the white of St Benedict’s robe, the pink of St Catherine’s etc., create the volume of their figures.

Sano di Pietro (1406-81) another Sienese native, (“Sano” is a nickname for “Ansano”, from St Ansanus, the evangelizer of Siena), The Preaching of St Bernardine of Siena, 1440s. The incomplete façade of the church in the background has black and white stripes, reminiscent of the “balzana”, the city’s official banner and shield, which is white above and black below. St Bernardine, who died in 1444, was a great promoter of devotion to the Holy Name, a subject on which he preached through the length and breadth of Italy, bringing peace to its many faction-torn cities. He was such an effective and reknowned preacher that the crowds which came to hear him were very often too great to fit into even the largest churches, and had to gather in the piazzas instead, despite the fact that (as is clearly seen in many early depictions of him) he had no teeth. (Notice also that the crowd is separated into a men’s and women’s section.)

An image of the Virgin and Child known as “The Madonna of the Large Eyes”, painted in the second quarter of the 13th century by an anonymous artist known as the Master of Tressa. This was the first image of the Virgin Mary to be venerated on the main altar of the cathedral, the one before which the Podestà (chief magistrate) of Siena, Bonaguida Lucari, at the head of all the city’s leaders and a large crowd of the citizenry, made the vow dedicating their city to the Virgin before the crucial battle of Montaperti in 1260. At the time, the panel was almost certainly incorporated into a much larger reredos, and surrounded by smaller images (now lost) of the principle episodes of the Virgin’s life.

St Paul Enthroned, with scenes of his conversion to the left and beheading to the right; ca. 1516, by Domenico Beccafumi (1486 – 1551), who also worked in the cathedral itself. The artist was born at Montaperti, where Siena had so signally defeated her rival Florence in 1260; it is an interesting irony that a native of that place should be the last painter of the Sienese School as a truly separate artistic current of the Renaissance. Four years after his death, Siena was conquered by Florence, by then had long the dominant power in Tuscany, and became thenceforth to a large degree culturally dependent on it. It is also the case that by the mid-16th century, the Italian Renaissance had run its course and shifted to Mannerism, the prelude to the Baroque; while the elderly Michangelo (also a Tuscan), working on the rebuilding of St Peter’s Basilica, and the forces of the Counter-Reformation had made Rome the new artistic capital of Italy.

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The Cathedral of Siena (Part 11): Artworks in the Cathedral Museum

Over the course of ten previous posts in this series, we have seen a great many (but by no means all!) of the artworks that grace the the cathedral of Siena, going back to the 13th century. Some of its more important artistic treasures, however, are no longer in the church itself, having been removed for preservation because of their great age, and replaced with copies. In this post, we will cover the room on the ground floor of the cathedral museum which houses several of these.

In 1287 or 1288, the Sienese artist Duccio di Buoninsegna, who would later paint the famous Maestà for the cathedral’s high altar, was commissioned to make this stained glass window (a rarity in Italy at the time) for the oculus of the apse. The central panel shows the Assumption, which is the church’s titular feast, with the Dormition of the Virgin below, and Her Coronation above it. To the left of the central panel are the Apostle Bartholomew, then much venerated in Siena as a protector of the city, and St Ansanus, its first evangelizer; to the right, the early local martyrs Crescentianus and Savinus; at the corners, the Four Evangelists.

In 1457, the sculptor Donatello, who had previously worked on the font of Siena’s baptistery, returned to the city to take up a new commission, a set of bronze doors for the churches façade, a project which was never completed. At the time, he also executed this tondo sculpture of the Madonna and Child for a door known as the Door of Pardon (Porta del Perdono), the church’s jubilee door. When the door was destroyed in 1660 to make way for the chapel of the Madonna del Voto, the tondo was of course saved.

This mid-14th century sculptural group of Christ in Majesty adored by two angels was originally placed over the large side portal of the so-called New Cathedral, the massive (and failed) expansion project which would have turned the church in its then-current size into the transept of a vastly larger edifice.

In the third post of this series, we saw the pulpit sculpted by one of the most important figures in the history of Italian sculpture, Nicola Pisano. Between 1285 and 1297, his son Giovanni served as the chief-of-works of Siena cathedral, and not only built the lower part of the façade, but also (with the help of a good number of assistants) made statues of several Biblical personages to decorate it. These were particularly vulnerable to weather damage, and have all long since been brought into the museum and replaced with copies.

Among them is this image of Joshua ben-Sirach, author of the Biblical book known to the Latin-speaking West as Ecclesiasticus. Despite the fact that he is one of the very few Biblical writers who explicitly identifies himself as the author of his own book, and despite the broad liturgical use which the Church makes of it, he very rarely appears as a subject in art. The verse written on the banderole in his hand, “Grace upon grace is a chaste and reverent woman” (26, 19), was likely chosen in reference to the Virgin Mary, to whom the cathedral is dedicated.

The prophet Simeon, with the words of the Nunc dimittis “for my eyes have seen Thy salvation” written on his banderole.

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The Cathedral of Siena (Part 10): The Maestà of Duccio di Buoninsegna

Since the feast of the Circumcision traditionally has a number of Marian overtones, on the basis of which it was transformed into the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, in the post-Conciliar reform, today we continue our ongoing series on the cathedral of Siena with one of the most important high medieval images of the Virgin Mary, Duccio di Buoninsegna’s Maestà. (Photos by Nicola de’ Grandi except the first.)

In September of 1260, the city of Siena and its allies faced off against the armies of Florence and its allies at the battle of Montaperti, one of the crucial events in the long conflict between the Guelph and Ghibelline factions that marked so much of medieval Italy’s history. Before the battle began, the Sienese betook themselves to their cathedral, which is dedicated to the Virgin Mary’s Assumption, and swore to honor Her as the queen of the city if She would by Her prayers obtain victory for them. Despite being outnumbered three-to-one, they inflicted a devastating defeat on the Florentines. In fulfillment of their vow, they then commmissioned a new side-altar for the cathedral, of which this painting, now attributed to the Sienese artist Diotisalvi di Speme, and dated to 1267, was the altarpiece. It is commonly known as the “Madonna del Voto – Our Lady of the Vow” in Italian, or somewhat more formally as “Advocata Senensium – Advocate of the Sienese” in Latin.

Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.

Since 1662, the image has been housed in a chapel which extends off the right aisle of the church, commissioned by the Sienese Pope Alexander VII Chigi (1655-67), and decorated by his favorite artist and personal friend, Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

In 1308, however, the city decided to commission a much larger altarpiece, this time for the cathedral’s main altar, from one of its native sons, the painter Duccio di Buoninsegna (1255-60 ca. – 1318 ca.). The term “Maestà – Majesty” is used generically in Italian for any large image of the Madonna enthroned with the Child Jesus in Her lap. The motif was very popular in Duccio’s time, and also done by some of his most important artistic contemporaries such as Cimabue and Giotto. In the central panel, She is dressed rather more like a nun than a queen, a choice appropriate for the painting’s original context. To either side of the throne are arrayed Angels and Saints; the four figures kneeling in the foreground are the patron Saints of Siena.

Duccio belongs to the generation of painters of the late 13th and early 14th centuries, similar to Giotto and Cimabue, who may be thought of as the grandfathers of the Renaissance. Here we see how he uses color, the varying blues of the Virgin’s robe, to create a real sense of depth to Her figure as the knee sticks out towards the viewer. However, the baby Jesus is almost weightless, floating in Her arms, and there is no real sense of perspective in the throne itself, which splays outward.

One the left side are seen (left to right) Saints Catherine of Alexandria, Paul and John the Evangelist, with the local Saints Savinus and Ansanus, the latter being the evangelizer and bishop of Siena in the early fourth century, according to the local tradition.

On the right side are (left to right) Ss John the Baptist, Peter and Agnes, and kneeling in front of them, two more local Saints, the martyrs Crescntianus and Victor.

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The Cathedral of Siena (Part 9): the Baptismal Font

Since the Gospel for today is traditionally dedicated to the beginning St John the Baptist’s public ministry (Luke 3, 1-6), we now turn to one of the most extraordinary artworks ever created in his honor, the font of the baptistery at the cathedral of Siena. This was made between 1417 and 1430 by several different artists, the most prominent among them being Donatello, Lorenzo Ghiberti, and Jacopo della Quercia. The last of these three designed the structure, and sculpted several different parts of it: the first of the six bronze panels that decorate the sides of the basin, the large tabernacle in the middle, the five marble reliefs of the prophets on the tabernacle, the bronze angels at its corners, and the statue of the Baptist on top. (All pictures by Nicola de’ Grandi.)

The bronze panels on the basin depict six episodes from the life of the Baptist, beginning with the Annunciation to Zachariah by Jacopo della Quercia. The casting mold for this was originally made in 1417, but not actually employed until 1430. At each of the six corners there is an allegorical figure of one of the Virtues; to the sides of this panel stand Fortitude (left) by Goro di Neroccio, 1428, and Charity (right), by Giovanni di Turino, 1424.

The second panel shows the Birth of the Baptist, by Turino di Sano and his son Giovanni di Turino, cast in 1427.

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The Cathedral of Siena (Part 8): the Baptistery

Continuing our series of Nicola’s photos of the cathedral of Siena, today we turn to the baptistery; the baptismal font, an extraordinary achievement in the history of bronze sculptures, will be covered in its own separate post. As previously noted, the cathedral stands fairly close to the edge of a rather steep hill. When the choir behind the altar was extended in 1317, the baptistery was built underneath it by the architect Camaino di Crescentino (completed in 1325), partly to serve as a support that would keep the structure from falling down into the valley below. This accounts for its rather odd appearance; the marble-covered façade, which was never completed, is very high, but the building itself is extremely shallow.

The space inside is divided into two sets of three bays. Those closer to the façade are decorated with images of the Twelve Apostles, in reference to the ancient custom of reciting the Apostles’ Creed as one enters the building during the rite of baptism. The two on the sides were painted by Agostino di Marsiglio; the central one is by the Sienese sculptor and painter Lorenzo di Pietro (1410-80), who, for reasons unknown, is generally referred to by peculiarly unfortunate nickname “Vecchietta”, which means “little old lady.”

The second set of bays, also by Vecchietta, show the articles of the Creed. The pinnacle at the top of this photograph, in which a man kneels in front of Christ in glory, represents the words “and in Jesus Christ, His Only Son, our Lord.” The images underneath it by Benvenuto di Giovanni (ca. 1460) show two miracles of St Anthony of Padua: above, St Anthony saves a women in Ferrara who had been wrongly accused of adultery by making her newborn speak and say who its father was; below, a donkey kneels before the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

In the central bay, left, “He descended into hell, on the third day He rose from the dead”; at center, “He ascended into heaven”; on the right, “whence He will come to judge the living and the dead”; at top, “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” (On the arch in front of the apse, the Assumption of the Virgin.)

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The Cathedral of Siena (Part 7): The Crypt

In 1999, work on the cathedral complex of Siena led to the accidental rediscovery beneath the church’s choir of a large space which had been sealed away and forgotten for about 650 years. This space is now called a “crypt”, although it was certainly not built as a crypt in the proper sense of the term, a burial space beneath a building; its original purpose and relationship to the rest of the complex remains a matter of speculation. Sometime in the mid-14th century, it was filled in with rubble and sealed off, one of various projects designed to shore up the huge cathedral, which sits at the edge of a rather steep hill, for fear that the weight of the recently extended choir would cause the hill to collapse. As a result, much of the fresco work within the space, which was still quite new when it was buried, is remarkably well-preserved.

As was almost always the case in the Middle Ages, none of the paintings are signed. Broadly speaking, they are attributed to a group of prominent artists known to have been active in Siena in the later 13th century and their students: first and foremost among them, Duccio di Buoninsegna (whose great masterwork, the altarpiece known as the Maestà, will be shown later in this series), then Guido di Siena, and the oddly-named Diotisalvi di Speme (“God-save-thee of Hope”), best known in the city as the painter of the Madonna which was replaced by the Maestà. Byzantine influence was still quite strong in Italy in the later 13th century, and especially in Siena, where artists were generally more concerned with decoration than perspective and three-dimensionality, but the tendency towards painting in a more realistic style which would be so characteristic of the Renaissance is already quite evident in many of these works. The more intact images show two cycles of the life of Our Lord, the Infancy and the Passion; a series of Old Testament stories above them were mostly destroyed when the building was, so to speak, decapitated before it was filled in and buried. (Photos by Nicola de’ Grandi.)

The Betrayal of Judas

Christ washes the feet of His disiples at the Last Supper.

The Crucifixion. In the earlier Middle Ages, Christ was shown on the Cross fully upright and awake, to indicate that even in the midst of His Passion, He is still God who sustains the universe. In the later years of the 13th century, especially under the influence of the Franciscans, the emphasis in art shifted towards Christ’s humanity, and hence, towards a more realistic portrayal of His sufferings. Here we see this in the slant of His body, which gives it a sense of real weight. This will be further accentuated in the next generation by Giotto, the first painter to show the body of Christ slumping forward as if it were about to fall off the Cross.

The Deposition from the Cross. Here we see very nicely another important trend of the period leading into the Renaissance, the use of facial expressions to tell a story, particularly evident in the women mourning over Christ.

The Lamentation at the Tomb.

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