Zanobi di Benedetto Strozzi
, Italian, 1412-1468
Title
The Assumption of the Virgin with Saints Jerome and FrancisDate1460s
MediumTempera on wood panel
Dimensions
190 x 170 cm
Credit LinePurchased, 1925 (Lane Fund)
Object numberNGI.861
Descriptionin this work, the Virgin is depicted seated on celestial clouds, with her hands raised in prayer. She is enshrined in a mandorla of multicoloured lights borne by six angels. Below, roses and lilies are growing from her empty marble tomb, while St Jerome and St Francis of Assisi kneel in adoration. Three small panels – representing the Death of the Virgin, the Stigmatisation of St Francis and St Jerome in the Wilderness – were originally joined to the bottom of this altarpiece. These are now in the Museo di Palazzo Pretorio, Prato, near Florence. Giorgio Vasari’s Lives of the Artists (1550) identified Strozzi as an important follower of Fra Angelico and he was also influenced by Domenico di Michelino and Pesellino. The Medici were among his patrons. A versatile painter, Strozzi is better known as an illuminator, for instance of elaborate choir books for the Convent of San Marco and Cathedral in Florence.
Exhibition HistoryOfficina pratese. Da Donatello a Filippo Lippi, Comune di Prato; Museo Civico, Prato, 14 September 2013 - 13 January 2014
Label TextFlorentine artist Strozzi was a follower of Fra Angelico, and primarily worked as a manuscript illuminator. This altarpiece depicts the Virgin Mary being carried into heaven by angels, three days after her death. Saints Jerome and Francis of Assisi kneel in prayer before her open tomb, which is filled with lilies and roses. Saint Francis, the founder of the Franciscan Order, is recognisable by his monk’s habit and the marks of the stigmata on his hands and feet. Saint Jerome’s attribute is the red cardinal’s hat.