Baronci Altarpiece

Angel (fragment of the Baronci altarpiece)

Artist	Raphael
Year	1500–1501
Medium	Oil on wood
Dimensions	31 cm × 27 cm (12 in × 11 in)
Location	Pinacoteca Civica Tosio Martinengo, Brescia

The Baronci Altarpiece was a painting by the Italian High Renaissance artist Raphael. His first recorded commission, it was made for Andrea Baronci's chapel in the church of Sant'Agostino in Città di Castello, near Urbino. The altarpiece was seriously damaged during an earthquake in 1789, and since 1849 fragments of the original painting have been part of different collections.

History

On December 10, 1500, Raphael and Evangelista da Pian di Meleto, an older painter from the workshop of Raphael's father Giovanni Santi, received the commission to paint jointly a large altarpiece dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, for the Baronci chapel in the Sant'Agostino Church in Città di Castello. In the documents Raphael, not his collaborator, is referred to as magister ("master"). The work on the paintings was completed on September 13, 1501.

In the center of the painting Nicholas of Tolentino stood in an archway, with the devil at his feet. Next to him were three angels. Above him God the Father was placed with a crown in his hand, and surrounded by the heads of angels. On his left the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Augustine were painted.

During a heavy earthquake in 1789 the painting was damaged so severely that it was decided to saw it into pieces and display only the undamaged parts. In the same year, the fragments were acquired by Pope Pius VI for the collections of the Vatican, where they remained until 1849. It is unclear what happened to them after that. Only many years later scholars were able to trace back six different pieces, four fragments of the main painting and two predellas, which had become part of different collections.

An impression of the complete work is given by an 18th-century copy in the Pinacoteca Comunale, Città di Castello. Preliminary sketches by Raphael can be found in the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille, Lille and the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. On the basis of these drawings it is assumed that the design of the altar was entirely Raphael's work, whereas in the execution he was joined by Evangelista da Pian di Meleto. While Raphael probably painted the altarpiece itself, the predellas are attributed to Pian di Meleto.

Angel (fragment of the Baronci altarpiece)

Artist	Raphael
Year	1500–1501
Medium	Oil on wood
Dimensions	57 cm × 36 cm (22 in × 14 in)
Location	Louvre, Paris

Surviving fragments

Fragments of the main altarpiece:

God the Father, 112 x 75 cm. Naples, Museo di Capodimonte.
Blessed Virgin Mary, 51 x 41 cm. Naples, Museo di Capodimonte.
Angel, 57 x 36 cm. Paris, Louvre.
Angel, 31 x 27 cm. Brescia, Pinacoteca Tosio Martinengo.

Predellas:

Saint Nicholas of Tolentino Restoring Two Partridges to Life, 29.2 x 54.0 cm. Detroit, Institute of Art.
Saint Nicholas of Tolentino Rescuing a Boy from Drowning, 26.7 x 51.8 cm. Detroit, Institute of Art.

References

Based on the article from the German Wikipedia, which in turn gives as its sources:

Hertig, Louis; Pierluigi de Vecchi (1967). Klassiker der Kunst – Raffael. Vienna: Kunstkreis Luzern – Freudenstadt.
Ferino Pagden, Sylvia; Maria Antonietta Zancan (1989). Raffaello : catalogo completo dei dipinti. Florence: Cantini. ISBN 88-8030-146-2.

External links

Predellas attributed to the Circle of Perugino in the DIA's collection

Raphael

Early works	The Kinnaird Resurrection Baronci Altarpiece St. Sebastian Oddi Altar Solly Madonna Mond Crucifixion Three Graces St Michael Portrait of a Man Connestabile Madonna Madonna and Child The Marriage of the Virgin Vision of a Knight St George Colonna Altarpiece Portrait of Perugino ¹ Madonna and Child with the Book

Florentine period	Portrait of Elisabetta Gonzaga ² Portrait of Emilia Pia da Montefeltro ² Portrait of Guidobaldo da Montefeltro Self-portrait Madonna of the Grand Duke Ansidei Madonna Young Man with an Apple Christ Blessing Madonna Terranuova Madonna of the Goldfinch Madonna of the Meadow Esterhazy Madonna Small Cowper Madonna St George and the Dragon La donna gravida Portrait of Agnolo Doni Portrait of Maddalena Doni Madonna of the Pinks Young Woman with Unicorn Madonna with Beardless St Joseph Saint Catherine of Alexandria Canigiani Holy Family La belle jardinière Deposition of Christ Portrait of a Young Woman Tempi Madonna Madonna Colonna Madonna de Bogota

Roman period	Portrait of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese La disputa The School of Athens Madonna of Loreto Aldobrandini Madonna Madonna with the Blue Diadem Portrait of a Cardinal Alba Madonna Niccolini-Cowper Madonna The Parnassus Cardinal and Theological Virtues The Prophet Isaiah The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple Portrait of Pope Julius II Madonna of Foligno Madonna with the Fish Triumph of Galatea Sistine Madonna Madonna della seggiola Madonna dell'Impannata Madonna della tenda The Fire in the Borgo The Meeting of Leo the Great and Attila Deliverance of Saint Peter The Mass at Bolsena Portrait of Bindo Altoviti The Sibyls Ecstasy of St. Cecilia Portrait of Balthasar Castiglione La donna velata Portrait of Tommaso Inghirami Palazzo Branconio dell'Aquila Portrait of Andrea Navagero and Agostino Beazzano Portrait of Cardinal Bibbiena Church of Sant'Eligio degli Orefici Creation of the World Transfiguration Portrait of Pope Leo X with Two Cardinals Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary The Holy Family of Francis I Ezekiel's Vision St. Michael Vanquishing Satan Madonna of the Rose Self-portrait with a friend La fornarina Visitation Portrait of a Young Man Miraculous Draught of Fishes Christ's Charge to Peter Healing of the Lame Man Death of Ananias Stoning of St. Stephen Conversion of the Proconsul Sacrifice at Lystra St Paul in Prison St Paul Preaching in Athens Palazzo Jacopo da Brescia

¹ Also attributed to Lorenzo di Credi ² Attributed

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