The Perugia Altarpiece is a painting by the Italian early Renaissance painter Fra Angelico

Fra Angelico

Fra Angelico , born Guido di Pietro, was an Early Italian Renaissance painter described by Vasari in his Lives of the Artists as having "a rare and perfect talent"...

, housed in the Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria

Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria

The Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria is the Italian national paintings collection of Umbria, housed in the Palazzo dei Priori, Perugia, in central Italy. Its collection comprises the greatest representation of the Umbrian School of painting, ranging from the 13th to the 19th century, strongest in the...

 of Perugia

Perugia

Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....

, Italy.

History

The painting was executed for the St. Nicholas Chapel in the Basilica of San Domenico, Perugia. In the early 19th century, it was split and partially dispersed, and some of the predella panels were acquired by the Pinacoteca Vaticana. In Perugia were executed copies of these panels, enclosed into a neo-Gothic frame. The polyptych

Polyptych

A polyptych generally refers to a painting which is divided into sections, or panels. The terminology that follows is in relevance to the number of panels integrated into a particular piece of work: "diptych" describes a two-part work of art; "triptych" describes a three-part work; "tetraptych"...

 also included some small depictions of saints, on the side piers, and two tondoes

Tondo (art)

A tondo is a Renaissance term for a circular work of art, either a painting or a sculpture. The word derives from the Italian rotondo, "round." The term is usually not used in English for small round paintings, but only those over about 60 cm in diameter, thus excluding many round portrait...

 with the Annunciation Angel and the Annunciation, in the cusps.

Description

The work includes a large central panel, depicting the Madonna Enthroned with Child and Angels, which was fully painted by Fra Angelico. The two side panels, each forming two arched sub-panels and including a figure of saint. On the left are St. Dominic and St. Nicholas, attributed to Angelico, while on the right are St. John the Baptist and St. Catherine of Alexandria, considered mostly by his workshop.

The central Madonna is a Maestà

Maestà

Maestà, the Italian word for "majesty", designates an iconic formula of the enthroned Madonna with the child Jesus, whether or not accompanied with angels and saints...

depiction, and sits on a large throne painted using geometric perspective. In front of her is a step with vases housing three white and red roses (symbolizing of the Virgin's purity and a forecast of Christ's Passion, respectively). The panel resembles strictly that in the Cortona Triptych

Cortona Triptych

The Cortona Triptych is a depiction of the Madonna and Child with saints, by Fra Angelico now at the Diocesan Museum, Cortona, Italy. It dates to 1436-1437....

, especially for the Madonna, the throne's arch and the placement of the angels. The pavement is decorated with marble tarsia, already used by Fra Angelico in earlier works such as the San Pietro Martire Triptych

San Pietro Martire Triptych

The St. Peter of Verona Triptych is a painting by the Italian early Renaissance master Fra Angelico, executed around 1428-1429. It is housed in the National Museum of San Marco, Florence, central Italy....

 (1428-1429).

The saint's figures are less monumental than in the later Tabernacle of the Lanaioli (1433-1435). Behind them is a table, covered by a brocade drape decorated in gold, over which is St. Nicholas' mitre

Mitre

The mitre , also spelled miter, is a type of headwear now known as the traditional, ceremonial head-dress of bishops and certain abbots in the Roman Catholic Church, as well as in the Anglican Communion, some Lutheran churches, and also bishops and certain other clergy in the Eastern Orthodox...

.

The predella panels portray scenes of the Life of St. Nicholas