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

Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian Salvaged

1438-40
Tempera and gold on panel, 38 x 45 cm
Alte Pinakothek, Munich

This picture is the second from the left on the predella.

In this scene the saints' prayer to God, the judge's attack by demons and their salvation by angels are represented in varied scale throughout the landscape to connote different moments in time. The undulating forms of the landscape recede and flatten as they approach the horizon, itself dissolved in the mist of atmospheric perspective. The figures are more intensely characterized through their varied ages, garments, postures and expressions.