This panel is an autograph, small-scale replica of an altarpiece painted in 1566-7 for the newly elected Pope Pius V, which was destined for the pope?s burial chapel in the church of Santa Croce in his native town of Bosco Marengo in Piemonte. A preparatory drawing for it is in the Uffizi, Florence. Recent research has revealed that this small version was almost certainly painted for Vasari?s close friend Vincenzo Borghini, prior of the Spedale degli Innocenti (Foundling Hospital) in Florence.
Giorgio Vasari (Italian, 1511 - 1574)
Vasari enjoyed a highly successful and prolific career as a painter, draughtsman, designer, and architect but he is best known today as the author of the pioneering `Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects? (1550; expanded edition, 1568). It earned him the reputation as the father of art history. He was one of the key exponents of High Mannerism in mid-sixteenth century Italy, and is credited with establishing it as the official style of Cosimo Medici?s court in Florence. He also worked in Rome for both the Pope and a number of private clients. During his life Vasari enjoyed the reputation and fortune of a great artist, however his work is not generally viewed with the same high regard today.
