About this artwork

The fact that this panel is unfinished allows a rare insight into its technique, with the gesso ground and brush under-drawing clearly visible in many areas. Shaded areas on Saint Peter’s drapery at the right and the castle in the background are modelled with dense hatching strokes before colour was applied. The composition derives, on a much smaller scale, from Cima’s important Madonna of the Orange Tree altarpiece of about 1496-98 (Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice). A slight stiffness in execution suggests that this is the work of an assistant rather than by the master himself. The blue sky at the upper left is a later addition.

Updated before 2020

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