At over 700 years old, Christ Between Saints Paul and Peter is the oldest work in our collection. Painted around 1320, it was likely made for a church in Lorenzetti's home town of Sienna.
The painting is an early Renaissance gold-ground panel. Fine gold lines decorate Christ’s robes, recalling Byzantine icons and indicating his divinity. The three characters seem linked in silent conversation. Christ glances towards Saint Paul, who converted to Christianity after experiencing an intense vision of Jesus. With his head bowed and brow furrowed, Paul clutches the sword with which he was martyred. It is sheathed in its stitched scabbard and wrapped in a decorative sword belt. On the right, Saint Peter watches both of them. Christ deemed Peter to be the “rock upon which the Church would be built”. As the guardian of the Kingdom of Heaven, Peter grips the keys tightly.
This panel is Lorenzetti's only fully autographed work in the UK. The other six paintings associated with his name have all been attributed in part to his workshop.
About Lorenzetti
Lorenzetti worked mainly in Sienna and a small number of cities in Tuscany and Umbria. Alongside his brother, he was one of the most active and innovative artists in the region at that time.
This piece is significant as it connects two of Lorenzetti's most important commissions. The first are his pioneering frescoes in the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi. Which Lorenzetti probably completed by September 1319. The second is the impressive altarpiece Lorenzetti made for Bishop Guido Tarlati between 1320 to 1324. He created the piece for the church of Santa Maria della Pieve in Arezzo, the main tier of which is still in situ today. Both works are noted for their naturalistic details, expressive figures and spatial innovation. Much like the panel we hold at the gallery.
