GOES, Hugo van der
(b. ca. 1440, Ghent, d. 1482, Bruxelles)

Sts Anthony and Thomas with Tommaso Portinari

1476-79
Oil on wood, 253 x 141 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

The picture shows the left wing of the Portinari Triptych.

Three members of the Portinari family, Tommaso Portinari and his two sons Antonio and Pigello, are portrayed kneeling, their faces pale, sculptural and almost ghostlike. Above them stand Saint Anthony Abbot and Saint Thomas, two of the family's patron saints, looking grave and solemn, their majesty almost compressed by the absence of a surrounding space. In the background, against a barren, rocky landscape, Mary and Joseph can be seen making their way to Bethlehem, an episode that prepares us for the holy event of the central panel.