Praglia Polyptych

Giovanni d'Alemagna e Antonio Vivarini

Download hi-res image TITLE Praglia Polyptych
AUTHOR Giovanni d'Alemagna e Antonio Vivarini
DATE c. 1448
OBJECT TYPE AND MATERIAL Tempera on panel
DIMENSIONS Lower register: cm 67 x 33 central panel, cm 62 x 22 side panels. Upper register: cm 47 x 22 central panel, cm 42 x 22 side panels.
INVENTORY 187
ROOM IV
Work on display

This is fully preserved Late Gothic polittico by Antonio Vivarini and his brother-in-law Giovanni d’Alemagna, who worked in Padua and the Veneto, and created for the Benedictine abbey of Praglia, shown by the saints Benedict and Scholastica that signal Benedictine devotion. It shows an increasing naturalism, and the Christ child has a three-dimensionality that suggests a Tuscan influence. The orange colour dominates, but this is actually the base over which was applied the original gold.