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Source Description

Together with 37.620A and 37.620C-F, this panel of the Prophet Jacob comes from the frame of a monumental polyptych, or multi-paneled altarpiece, by Niccolò da Foligno, one of the foremost painters in the Central Italian regions of Umbria and the Marches in the mid- to late 1400s. All of the panels were originally installed as pinnacles (crowning elements) above the altarpiece’s larger central panels. In depicting Old Testament prophets—figures who relayed God’s messages and foretold the eventual arrival of Christ—they acted as precursors to subject represented in the main portion of the altarpiece, likely an episode from the life of Christ or the Virgin Mary. The main panels from the altarpiece to which the pinnacles belonged remains lost or unidentified. For an intact altarpiece by Niccolò da Foligno with a similar set of pinnacles, see the example at the Vatican Picture Gallery in Rome.

Scholar Source Context

Document identity
localId
26158
label
The Prophet Jacob
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
2
Source metadata
id
26158
contentType
drawing
stage
normalized
title
The Prophet Jacob
description
Together with 37.620A and 37.620C-F, this panel of the Prophet Jacob comes from the frame of a monumental polyptych, or multi-paneled altarpiece, by Niccolò da Foligno, one of the foremost painters in the Central Italian regions of Umbria and the Marches in the mid- to late 1400s. All of the panels were originally installed as pinnacles (crowning elements) above the altarpiece’s larger central panels. In depicting Old Testament prophets—figures who relayed God’s messages and foretold the eventual arrival of Christ—they acted as precursors to subject represented in the main portion of the altarpiece, likely an episode from the life of Christ or the Virgin Mary. The main panels from the altarpiece to which the pinnacles belonged remains lost or unidentified. For an intact altarpiece by Niccolò da Foligno with a similar set of pinnacles, see the example at the Vatican Picture Gallery in Rome.
provenance
Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [1881 catalogue: no. 167; 1897 catalogue: no. 23]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
ca. 1470 (Renaissance)
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Painting & Drawing
paintings
polyptychs
pinnacles
imageCount
2
pageCount
2
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
14.3
height
11.4
dimensionsRaw
Approx. painted surface H: 5 5/8 x W: 4 1/2 in. (14.3 x 11.4 cm); Approx. panel H: 9 13/16 x W: 7 13/16 x D: 11/16 in. (24.9 x 19.9 x 1.8 cm)
style
Renaissance
Source extras
inscriptions
On the scroll: .IACOB.PRO. (translation: ""Jacob pro[phet]"")
RelatedObjects
32644
39972
med
tempera and gold leaf on wood panel
creator_ids
6276
collection_ids
REN
exhibition_ids
none
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
5a4105582f1d8655
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
231272a4d12ee91a
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no