ANGELICO, Fra
(b. ca. 1400, Vicchio nell Mugello, d. 1455, Roma)

The Apostle St James the Great Freeing the Magician Hermogenes

1434-35
Tempera and gold on panel, 25 x 23 cm
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth

There are four panels in various collections which belonged originally to the predella of an unidentified altarpiece. The panels illustrate stories from the legends of the Virgin Mary, the apostle St James the Great, St John the Baptist, and Sts Francis and Dominic. The scenes are the following: The Apostle St James the Great Freeing the Magician Hermogenes; The Naming of St John the Baptist; The Burial of the Virgin and the Reception of Her Soul in heaven; The Meeting of Sts Dominic and Francis of Assisi. The fifth panel of the predella is lost. The altarpiece would have shown the Virgin and Child and the same saints whose scenes are depicted in the predella.

The predella panels show the influence of Masaccio's frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel, specific derivations from them can be detected in most scenes.