Description
This triptych, or three-paneled altarpiece, once contained relics in the circular holes of the central section. Around the Madonna and Child in the places of honor are Saints Aurea and John the Baptist. On the wings, Gabriel announces the incarnation of Christ with the words written in Latin on his scroll which translate as, "the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Almighty shall overshadow thee," from the mass sung on the Feast of the Annunciation. The unidentified coats of arms are probably those of the donors. The delicacy of this work reveals Vanni's debt to Simone Martini.
Provenance
Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase [1900 catalogue supplement: no. 49, as School of Fra Angelico]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Inscriptions
[Transcription] On central panel, below left saint: S[AN]C[T]A AURA; [Translation] On central panel, below left saint: Saint Aurea; [Transcription] On central panel below right saint: S[AN]C[TU]S IOH[N]ES BATTI[ST]; [Translation] On central panel below right saint: Saint John the Baptist; [Transcription] On left wing under left saint in black paint: MAR... (?); [Transcription] On left wing under right saint in black paint: S DOMINI; S[ANCTUS] DOMINI[CUS]; [Translation] On left wing under right saint in black paint: Saint Dominic; [Transcription]: On left wing in upper register on scroll: SPI[RITUS SANCTUS] ET VENIET [IN TE] ET VIRTUS ALTIS[S]IMI OB[UMBRABIT TIBI]; [Translation] On left wing in upper register on scroll: the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Almighty shall overshadow thee
Credit
Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902
