(active in the Marche between the 14th and 15th century)
Salvator Mundi,
frescoed lunette (stacco a massello), 71 x 112 cm, unframed

Provenance:
European Private Collection

We are grateful to Alessandro Tomei for suggesting the attribution of the present painting.

This detached fresco depicts the image of Christ in judgment with the classic iconography derived from the Apocalypse, the right hand holding the book open with the letters Α and Ω visible, evoking the start and end of the world: “ἐγὼ τὸ ἄλϕα καὶ τὸ ὦ, ό πρῶτος καὶ ὁ ἔσχατος, ἡ ἀρχὴ καὶ τὸ τέλος”, (Ap., XXII, 13: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last”).

The monumental nature of the picture is evident, suggesting a provenance from an architectural and decorative complex of considerable size. It would have been located high up, perhaps in a lunette beneath a cross-vault or, more probably, above a portal or counter-façade, then the favored location for images of the Christ in judgment.

The pose of the figure is particularly solemn and iconic; these aspects are accented by the large size of the symbolic letters. The plastic solidity of the image is based on skillful chiaroscuro transitions and the treatment of the drapery, both intended to emphasize the sense of volume. There are some aspects of central Adriatic painting of the late 14th and early 15th century, a tradition influenced by the painting of Emilia-Romagna on the one side and Venice on the other. There are close affinities with a group of detached frescoes now conserved at the Palazzo Albani, site of the Università degli Studi di Urbino “Carlo Bo”, and which originally came from the church of San Giacomo dei Pellegrini in Fermignano (Pesaro-Urbino). This may possibly suggest the same hand. They consist of a fragmentary cycle depicting a Crucifixion, Figures of saints, and Christ enthroned between angels with two pilgrims kneeling to the right. These two figures, together with the situation of the building not far from the via Francigena, have led to suggestions that there was once a hostel for Rome-bound pilgrims next to the church.

From a stylistic point of view, the present Christ in judgment is interpreted in a manner similar to other artists of the region from the latter half of the 14th century, particularly the version by Gentile da Fabriano. This is exemplified by the plasticity of the figure, its essential yet firm positioning in space and its fine chromatic transitions. There is also a noticeable absence of the decorative touches and elements typical of late-Gothic painting in the northern Marche.

We are grateful to Alessandro Tomei for the present catalogue entry.