Room 9
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IX/1 Martirio dei santi Giovanni e Paolo (Martyrdom of Saints John and Paul)
Alberto Sotio (?)
detached fresco, XII century, end
cm 168 x 238
Spoleto, church of the Saints John and Paul
The fresco has been detached in 1961 for preservation purposes from the crypt wall of the church of the Saints John and Paul, a small building consecrated in 1174, where a remarkable set of wall paintings dated from the last quarter of the XIII century to the XV century are still kept.
It represents the martyrdom of the two Roman brothers: to the left, on the background of a building, the emperor seating on the throne orders their decapitation, that is represented to the right of the lunette; at the middle both saints are crossing the door of Paradise dominated by the clypeus with the blessing Christ image.
The painting, dedicated to the two saints, was part of the most antique decoration, of which the Martirio di Thomas Beckett (Martyrdom of Thomas Beckett), the Banchetto di Erode (Herod’s Banquet) and the images of Santi (Saints), that were completed approximately by the same time, are still kept in this place.
The scenes of both martyrdoms (John and Paul, Thomas Beckett) are attributed to the same hand and matched to the large cross, kept in the cathedral but formerly part of this church, painted in 1187 by the master that was traditionally known as Alberto 'Sotio’, certainly the most important interpreter of the Romanic painting in the area of Spoleto.
IX/2 inged ox, symbol of Saint Luke
unknown sculptor
white marble, first half of XIII century
cm 37 x 59 x 19
Spoleto, Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta
The Ox, winged and with aureole, stands on a small base, side viewed and with the head facing frontally, the left foreleg holds the Book; the sculpture is also worked on the back.
Angelini-Rota (1928) indicates that the origin of the work of art is the right buttress of the Cathedral façade, as confirmed by some photographs of the XIX century; yet, the dimensions and characteristics of the sculpture, that has an accurate work on all sides, can let us think that it was originally part of a Romanic internal decoration element (presbytery area, pulpits, Episcopal throne, Easter candelabrum, baptism basin, etc.) lost in different locations or destroyed after the transformations suffered along the centuries due to the change on preferences or to liturgical needs.
The sculpture, consistent in style and shape with the sculptures of the façade central rose window can be dated within the first two decades of the XIII century.
IX/3 portal lunette
unknown sculptor
white marble, second half of XII century
cm 93 x 180 x 20
Spoleto, church of San Nicolò
IX/4 lion protomi
unknown sculptor
red limestone, second half of XII century
cm 55 x 39,4 x 71; cm 61 x 39,4 x 65
Spoleto, church of San Nicolò
The works of art were located on the left side of the Augustinian church of San Nicola until the XIX century; its construction started in 1304 on the area of the churches dedicated to ; when both antique constructions were demolished, the works of art they contained were reused in the new construction.
The lunette, made up of 14 marble ashlars (some of which were recovered from Classical Age buildings, as demonstrated by the frames and the decorative elements found on the back), must have been placed above a portal and it is embellished with a complex decoration disposed in three concentric rows with flowered raceme and grape prunings with central “loricata” cross and bunch of grapes; it is evidently inspired on the Paleochristian plastic models that the Spoletian area Romanic sculpture recalls and reinterprets on the facades of the new churches.
The lunette is unanimously
The pair of half length lions squatted down, that should had been set in the wall, corresponds to the type of wild animals placed as entrance guard on sacred buildings, widely represented on the sculptures of Romanic facades.
IX/5 capital
unknown sculptor
limestone, first half of XI century
cm 24,9 x 30 x 30
IX/6 capital
unknown sculptor
white marble, second half of XI century
cm 31,2 x 42 x 20
IX/7 capital
unknown sculptor
marmo, XI – XII century, end - start
cm 38,8 x 47,8 x 26,5
IX/8 capital
unknown sculptor
marble, XI – XII century, end - start
cm 38 x 51 x 49
IX/9 semicapital
unknown sculptor
“caciolfa” stone, XII century
cm 27 x 33,2 x 19
IX/10 capital
unknown sculptor
white marble, first half of XIII century
cm 28,2 x 25,3 x 23,3 diameter cm 17
The capitals coming from unidentified or destroyed buildings as well as from those completely modified during the past centuries, are the product of the building activity that radically renews the city between the XI century and the end of the XII century: among other variations, they are composed by double and single rows of smooth or water leaves, mostly with angular corners that are commonly found in the Romanic architecture.
Noble materials like white marble coming from antique constructions are reused as it was usually done in the medieval building: the number shows a fragmentary inscription on the upper surface with Roman Capital characters, arranged on three lines, the last one is illegible (IA C C . / BI ET / …….).
IX/11 headless warrior
unknown sculptor
white marble, XIII century, start
cm 59,5 x 52 x 48,5
The headless warrior, seen from the back, with the shield over his shoulders is leaned on the edge of a parallelepiped block, a key is hung on the left side of the block.
The subject of this fascinating sculpture is a sentry on guard in an entrance, as indicated by the large key aside; it probably is a decorated ashlar that was part of the city wall gate.
IX/12 rampant lion and deer
unknown sculptor
white marble, XIII century, end
cm 34,5 x 67 x 13,5
The rectangular slab with frame in relief, of unknown origin, showed a preservation status before the restoration that indicated that it must had been placed outdoors and set on a wall like high-relief slabs mounted on the facade of the Spoletian church of Saint Peter.
The representation of the rampant lion facing a deer that waters on a fountain (represented as a capital supported by a twisted column) refers to the symbolism of the Eucharist or Baptism.
IX/13 male head
unknown sculptor
white marble, XI - XII century, end - start
cm 38 x 20 x 24
Sculpture of unknown origin.
The marble deterioration, the lack of work on the back and the hole under the neck suggest that the sculpture belonged to a statue that was originally placed against a wall outside a building.
IX/14 bracket with male head
unknown Umbrian sculptor
marble, XIV century, start
cm 16 x 14 x 18
A displaced sculpture showing an intensely expressive male head, it may have been part of an architectural feature such as the corbel of a vault or, as the existence of a hole in the top suggests, it may have been inserted in a sepulchral monument, a ciborium or an aedicula.
IX/15 bracket or capital with head and acanthus leaves
unknown Umbrian sculptor
limestone, first half of XIV century
cm 17 x 16 x 6
IX/16 bracket with Acolyte bust
unknown Umbrian sculptors
limestone, first half of XIV century
cm 24 x 20 x 12
The erratic sculpture fragments of unknown origin, must had been part of decorative structures inside ecclesiastical buildings, like funeral monuments or gothic style ciborium spread in Umbria by the sculptor workshops of Perugia, Orvieto and Assisi between the end of the XIII century and the beginning of the XIV century.
IX/17 semicapital with angular heads and Ivy prunings
unknown Umbrian sculptor
limestone, first half of XIV century
cm 21 x 37,5 x 18
IX/18 female face: Justice Allegory (?)
IX/19 male face: Imperial Chancellor (?)
unknown sculptor from southern Italy
white marble
XIII century, second quarter
cm 40,5 x 32 x 5,5; cm 39 x 32 x 7,5
The two ovals were obtained from recovered marble slabs, maybe from an antique sarcophagus.
The female head is viewed from the right profile, with hair tied in a complex saccos from where two twisted curls arise.
The male profile is towards left, it has a thick beard and has fluent hair held on the front by a string.
Antonio Giuliano (2003) has linked both bas-reliefs to the stay of the emperor Federico II di Svevia in 1240 and has discovered an imperial workshop that depended on the one of Nicola Pisano in Puglia that was also active in Foligno and Rome where he had created a series of identical medallions; two of them preserved in Tor de’ Specchi in Rome, one in Treia in the Marche and a fourth one on a private collection; they were studied by Pico Cellni (1984) in relationship with the decoration of the “monumento al Carroccio” that Federico II erected on the Campidoglio after the Battle of Cortenova in 1237.
The male face is an imperial chancellor, while the female face according to Fabrio Marcelli (2005) represents the Allegory of Justice.
Its origin is unknown.
IX/20 Crocifissione (Crucifixion)
cm 24 x 20 x 12
IX/21 Giudizio Universale (Last Judgement)
IX/22 Ultima Cena (Last Supper)
IX/23 Derisione di Cristo (Christ Derision)
Maestro delle Palazze (master of Palazze)
Torn fresco, XIII century, end
cm 285 x 192,5; cm 302 x 308;
cm 302 x 261; cm 308 x 189
Spoleto, monastry of S. Maria inter Angelos
The preparatory frescoes and drawings are the remains in Spoleto of the antique decoration of the monastery of Santa Maria inter Angelos in the locality of le Palazze, a women monastery that was founded by Gregorio IX in 1229 on the slopes of Monteluco at the gates of Spoleto and that had been inhabited until 1403 when the nuns, that followed the rules of Santa Chiara (Saint Clare), moved within the city walls.
The nun’s internal choir was decorated by a cycle of scenes on the childhood and Passion of Christ, six of which – Annunciation, Nativity, Last Supper, Crucifixion, a second
The remains of the scene regarding Christ’s Derision and the sinopia with significant colour traces of five scenes were detached in 1964, while other two scenes – The Virgin with the Child between two saints and one Crucifixion – were found in 1972 in an environment under the choir, corresponding to the wall at the end of the church.
In 0000 frescoes and sinopias were bought by the Municipality of Spoleto for the local Art Gallery.
The author of these paintings, that were performed during the last decade of the XIII century, is an Umbrian painter inspired on Cimabue and the Roman painters that were active in the superior church of Assisi, that in the «rappresentazioni sacre del monastero spoletino [riuscì] ad esprimere quella appassionata veemenza, quella scoperta emotività nel rappresentare caratteri e azioni contrastanti, che sembrano tratti salienti dell’antica ‘arte sacra’ umbra, sui quali, evidentemente, convergevano artisti e committenti» (Toscano 1974).
IX/24 Martirio di san Biagio (S. Biagio martyrdom)
unknown sculptor
white marble
XII – XIII century, end - start
cm 67 x 235 x 26
Spoleto, church of S. Nicolò
The frieze represents the legend of the martyrdom of S. Biagio, bishop of Sebaste in Armenia tortured under he emperor Licinio in the year 316; from left: the emperor orders his torture; the saint tied to a column is skinned by two torturers; the beasts refuse to devour the body; the decapitation of S. Biagio; Christ sends two angels on his aid.
In the XIX century the relief was walled on the left side of the church of S. Niccolò of Spoleto with other Romanic sculptures.
Bruno Toscano (1983) suggests it was originally located on a church dedicated to S. Biagio – afterwards dedicated to S. Alò – located near to the “Convento degli Agostiniani de S. Nicolò” and included in the bishopric records since the XIV century.
The bas-relief has been performed on five recovered column drums cut into half.
The good preservation conditions of the sculpted surface excludes a prolonged exposition outdoors, therefore Corrado Fratini (1984) has rejected the traditional identification in the architrave of a portal and suggested its use as a church indoor decoration, maybe an altar or pier.
The relief plastic solidity and the lively narrative taste of the scenes identify an important example of the diffusion in central Italy of Antelamic models coming from the Po area between the end of the XII century and the beginning of the XIII century.
Maestro di Cesi (master of Cesi)
(news from 1308 to 1315)
tempera on wood panel
XIV century, first quarter
cm 245 x 158
Spoleto, Monastero della Stella
Crucifix with a cross shaped carpentry, with rectangular tablets on the horizontal beam extremities and on the foot base (suppedaneum) and a cusped tablet on the top moulding.
The Christ is represented alive, with straight head, open eyes and body erect, the top moulding represents the view of the Eternal in an almond held by two angels; in the side tablets, the Saints Stefano (to the left) and Thomas Apostle (to the right) are painted full length, in the central tablet two angels fly over the suffering Mother and Saint John; on the foot base (suppedaneum) the Saints Francis and Dominic are kneel down before Christ.
It was Edward Garrison (1949) who recognised in the Crucifix the same author of an antependium with the Virgin and saints kept in Cesi (Tr) in Saint Mary’s Church, dated 1308, with the influence of the masters from Rome and Florence that worked in S. Francis of Assisi.
Although the painting was made during the second decade of the XIV century, its dependence on the Romanic iconography of the «Christus triumphans» is justified by the forms of conservatism of the religious client in the bishopric of Spoleto.
The Crucifix arrived to the art gallery from the Monastero della Stella of Spoleto, where Giovanni Batista Cavalcaselle and Giovanni Morelli, who had de task of indicating the most valuable works of art of Marche and Umbria, found - Pittura di poco merito della fine del 1300».
This feminine monastery had been founded aside a hospital by the bishop Accoramboni in 1254 and an oratory dedicated to the Saints Stefano and Thomas and where the Crucifix might had been exposed, was built in 1259 to serve the hospital; The main work of art of this painter is a polyptych with the Assumption of the Virgin kept in St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat in France, that was given back to the ‘Master of Cesi’ by Roberto Longhi (1961) and that had been identified by Bruno Toscano (1995) with a painting also coming from the Monastero della Stella of Spoleto, where it was «un quadro, a guisa d’armadio, in cui è rappresentato il transito della Madonna» (Cavalcaselle-Morelli, 1861; ed. 1896) illegally transferred before 1892.
IX/26 crucifix
unknown Umbrian painter
tempera on wood panel
end of the XII century
cm 270 x 210
Spoleto, Congregazione di Carità (Charity Congregation)
Crucifix with cross shaped carpentry and rectangular tablet in the top moulding.
The Christ is represented alive with the iconography of the «Christus triumphans», that reigns on the throne of the cross according to the Passion of John the Evangelist.
The body is lying and the head is slightly bent, painted on a relief disk applied to the cross.
The top moulding painting is almost completely missing, it probably represented the Ascension.
The central table represents the suffering Mary full-length while the symmetric image of Saint John is missing.
The particular range of colours, all around gold, white and blue, link this Crucifix to two other crosses that are almost identical that were found in centres of the Dukedom of Spoleto, kept at the Vallo di Nera and in the Museo della Castellina in Norcia, that look like giant book illustrations similar to the Atlantic Bibles written and illuminated in Rome during the Romanic age.
Evelyn Sandberg-Vavalà (1929) has suggested the presence of common technical solutions in a group of crosses found in Assisi (S. Clare and Tesoro del Sacro Convento) as well as in the Siennese province (Montalcino and S. Giovanni d’Asso).
There are more remarkable differences with respect to the cross signed by Alberto Sotio (1187) of the Church of the Saints John and Paul of Spoleto, that is more similar to the Byzantine models that were common in Venice and in South Italy.
The Crucifix arrived to the Art Gallery from the Congregazione di Carità (Congregation of Charity) of Spoleto.
Its original location is unknown.
unknown Umbrian painter
tempera on wood panel
XIII century, third quarter
cm 138 x 98
Spoleto, Monastero della Stella
inscriptions: IHS NAZARE/NUS · REX IU/DEORUM
Crucifix with cross shaped carpentry and rectangular tablets in the extremities; the central field includes the image of dead Christ with the iconography of the «Christus patiens», with the body of Christ raised in agony from the wooden cross.
This iconography, that follows the Passion of the Evangelist Mark, appeared in the Byzantine Greece around the year 1000 and it was introduced in Europe during the crusades, progressively replacing the iconography of «Christus triumphans» that was of Romanic origin and was inspired on the story of John the Evangelist.
The «Christus patiens» became popular in the central regions of the peninsula with the two Crucifixes painted by Giunta Pisno for the churches of S. Domenico di Bologna and S. Francis of Assisi, where the relics of the Saints that founded the two most important mendicant Orders were venerated.
With respect to Giunta's prototypes, the Crucifix n. 17 is distinguished by narrative scenes in the tablets: the image of the Eternal, within an almond held by two angels in the top moulding, the faint of the Virgin that is helped by the pious women on the left, the centurion leading a group of soldiers on the right.
Filippo Todini (1989) has linked the Crucifix to the activity of the “Master of S. Felice di Giano”, a painter with classical trends that was educated in the Spoletian tradition with giuntesque reflexes.
The Crucifix arrived to the Art Gallery in 1894, after an alienation attempt performed by the nuns of the monastery della Stella of Spoleto, foiled by Giuseppe Sordini.
This female monastery, normally Augustinian, had been founded to manage the hospital, sponsored in 1254 by the bishop Bartolomeo Accoramboni in the area of the antique amphitheatre of Spoleto.
The cross was probably originally kept in the private church of the nuns, dedicated to S. Maria della Stella.
