Chigi Altarpiece
| Chigi Altarpiece | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Perugino |
| Year | 1506-1507 |
| Medium | oil on panel |
| Dimensions | 400 cm × 289 cm (160 in × 114 in) |
| Location | Sant'Agostino, Sienna |
The Chigi Altarpiece is an altarpiece by Perugino, dating to around 1506-1507. It is named after its commissioner Agostino Chigi, a Sienese banker, for the Chigi family chapel in the church of Sant'Agostino in Siena, where it still hangs.[1]
Like most altarpieces by Perugino, it has two registers. The upper heavenly one shows Christ on the cross surrounded by a symmetrical arrangement of angels and cherubim. The lower earthly register shows eight lamenting saints connected to the commissioner, the church and the chapel - on the right are John the Baptist and Jerome, for example. The deep landscape backgrounds shows hills and a clear sky. The work originally also had a predella, which is now divided between the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Art Institute of Chicago.
References
- ^ (in Italian) Vittoria Garibaldi, Perugino, in Pittori del Rinascimento, Scala, Florence, 2004 ISBN 888117099X