CENNI di Francesco di Ser Cenni
(active 1369-1415 in Florence)

Antiphonary (Folio 27v)

1370s
Tempera and gold on parchment, 608 x 418 mm (page size)
Walters Art Museum, Baltimore

Though the Antiphonary in Baltimore is fragmentary, ending abruptly on folio 56v, its contents are continuous without hiatus. The volume contains 8 miniatures in initials, and numerous pen-work initials. The volume was dedicated to Sts Peter and Nicholas of Bari, and it can be assumed that the book may have been commissioned for a chapel dedicated to one of the saints in a church dedicated to the other. A possible identification is the chapel of St Nicholas of Bari in the church of San Pier Maggiore in Florence.

It has long been recognized that more than one painter was involved in the completion of the Baltimore Antiphonary. Though Cenni di Francesco was responsible for painting the principal miniatures, their designs may not be attributable entirely to him.

In an initial M on folio 27v the scene St Nicholas of Bari Staying the Execution of Three Young Men is depicted. At the left St Nicholas seizes the arm and upraised sword of the executioner, while the three condemned youths kneel before two armed horsemen at the right.




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