Quaratesi Polyptych (1425)
by GENTILE DA FABRIANO

The Quaratesi altarpiece was painted for the high altar of the Quaratesi chapel in San Niccolò Oltrarno, Florence. Dismembered in the nineteenth century, it originally consisted of the Virgin and Child (now in the National Gallery, London) flanked by Saints Mary Magdalene and Nicholas of Bari on the left, and Saints John the Baptist and George on the right, each on a separate gabled panel. The saints (now in the Uffizi, Florence) stood on a continuous painted pavement, the edges of which are just perceptible on either side of the step of Mary's throne, like figures viewed through the slender columns of an open balcony or loggia. In the same way that Christ with his foreshortened halo leans out of the little roundel in the gable above the Virgin, other figures looked out of roundels above the saints of the main storey. Below, in the predella (now in the Pinacoteca, Vatican, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington)), were lively little scenes of the legendary deeds of Saint Nicholas, titulary saint of the church. All these elements were further harmonised through subtle adjustments of composition and colour. Gentile's sumptuous decorative effects can now best be appreciated in the gold brocade, for the once-brilliant cloth of honour behind the Virgin and Child, painted translucent red over silver leaf and green over gold, has darkened and blotched with age.

Preview Picture Data File Info Comment
Quaratesi Polyptych: Virgin and Child
1425
Egg tempera on poplar, 140 x 83 cm
National Gallery, London

708*1600
True Color
164 Kb



Quaratesi Polyptych: Virgin and Child
1425
Egg tempera on poplar, 140 x 83 cm
National Gallery, London

670*1562
True Color
180 Kb



Quaratesi Polyptych: Four Saints
1425
Tempera on panel, 197 x 57 cm (each)
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

1145*920
True Color
194 Kb



Quaratesi Polyptych: St Mary Magdalen
1425
Tempera on panel, 197 x 57 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

600*1997
True Color
135 Kb



Quaratesi Polyptych: St Mary Magdalen
1425
Tempera on panel, 197 x 57 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

600*1950
True Color
182 Kb



Quaratesi Polyptych: St Nicholas of Bari,
1425
Tempera on panel, 197 x 57 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

600*2019
True Color
155 Kb



Quaratesi Polyptych: St John the Baptist
1425
Tempera on panel, 197 x 57 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

600*2082
True Color
137 Kb



Quaratesi Polyptych: St George
1425
Tempera on panel, 197 x 57 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

600*1995
True Color
151 Kb



Quaratesi Polyptych: The Birth of St Nicholas
1425
Tempera on panel, 37 x 37 cm
Pinacoteca, Vatican

1100*1111
True Color
191 Kb



Quaratesi Polyptych: St Nicholas and Three Poor Maidens
1425
Tempera on panel, 37 x 37 cm
Pinacoteca, Vatican

1100*1106
True Color
158 Kb



Quaratesi Polyptych: St Nicholas Saves a Storm-tossed Ship
1425
Tempera on panel, 37 x 37 cm
Pinacoteca, Vatican

1598*1000
True Color
170 Kb



Quaratesi Polyptych: St. Nicholas Saves Three Youths from the Brine
1425
Tempera on panel, 37 x 37 cm
Pinacoteca, Vatican

1100*1114
True Color
155 Kb



Quaratesi Polyptych: Miracle of the Pilgrims at St Nicholas's Tomb
1425
Tempera on panel, 36 x 35 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington

1100*1127
True Color
193 Kb



Quaratesi Polyptych: Miracle of the Pilgrims at St Nicholas's Tomb
1425
Tempera on panel, 36 x 35 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington

1000*1027
True Color
191 Kb




Paintings by Gentile da Fabriano
| Adoration of the Magi | Quaratesi Altarpiece | various paintings |