Processing
"Retouch" oil-on-board pictography, following methods and recipes typical of Renaissance workshops. Processed with Maimeri and Winsor & Newton colours. The details are executed with the aid of a special magnifying glass in order to accurately recreate every smallest detail. The frame, made of solid wood with carvings, is prepared with red bole and gilded with gold leaf. The photo frame may vary depending on availability at the time. Aged wooden board prepared with a mix of plaster and natural glue applied in 3 successive coats. Picture size: 40x28 cm. Framed size: 54x42 cm.
History
Today, the altarpiece consists of seven main panels, plus two of the predella, which, unlike the others, are on canvas applied on a wooden panel. In the centre stands the Madonna and Child with St. John, flanked by St. Augustine, dressed as a bishop wearing a cope richly embroidered with figures of saints, and St. Jerome, dressed as a cardinal and holding a model of the church in his hand, possibly the same St. Mary of the Angels according to an unfinished reconstruction project. Above these side panels are two panels with the Announcing Angel and the Virgin Annunciate. On the cymatium is the Dead Christ supported by two angels and, in the tympanum of the gable, the Dove of the Holy Spirit. The main altarpiece is dedicated not only to the Virgin, the patron saint of the church, but also to the theme of the passing of the cross from St. John, the forerunner, to Jesus, the Redeemer, as is also made explicit in the inscription below ("O holy Child, give this cross back to the Child. He will not take it [John] to God for the sake of the world, there will be another'). Above the inscription are the letters B and N, which are interpreted as a signature of the artist B[er]N[ardinus]. An inscription also runs on the frieze, exhorting one to meditate on redemption and make oneself worthy of it: ‘Look, O mortal by what blood you have been redeemed. Let it not have passed away in vain'. Various symbolic elements refer to the Passion, such as the pomegranate in the Child's hand, the fruit scattered on the ground and the apple held by Saint Augustine.
Pinturicchio, Pala di Santa Maria dei Fossi (RETOUCH)