San Lorenzo distribuisce le elemosina (St. Lawrence distribuing alms)

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San Lorenzo distribuisce le elemosina (St. Lawrence distribuing alms)
San Lorenzo distribuisce le elemosina (St. Lawrence distribuing alms)
Publisher (Italian, founded 1852)
Artist/Maker (Italian, 1395 – 1455)
Photographer
Date1875-1900
MediumAlbumen print
DimensionsOverall: 9 7/8 × 7 3/8 in. (25.1 × 18.7 cm)
Credit LineGift of James Garfinkel, Class of 1980; Transferred from the Art History Department
Object numberS2018.2.182
Not on view
DescriptionPhotograph of the fresco painting "St Lawrence Distributing Alms" by Beato Angelico (1447-8). Decoration of Niccoline Chapel at the Apostolic Palace, Vatican. Situated in the heart of the Apostolic Palace, close to Raphael’s logge and the areas where the apartment of Julius II and Leo X would later be established, the Niccoline Chapel owes its name to Pope Nicholas V (Tommaso Parentucelli, 1447-1455), who ordered its construction corresponding to the final two floors of the tower constructed at the behest of Innocent III (1198-1216), the fourth pontiff bearing the name (1243-1254), protecting a pre-existing palatial core. The sumptuous decoration of the Chapel, ascribable to the Dominican Fra Angelico (or Beato Angelico) by two payments made in February and March 1448, is one of the great works of fifteenth-century Italy and is probably the peak of what may be defined as the Florentine painter’s “Christian humanism”. The frescoes which cover the interior begin on the wall to the right of the altar, in the direction of the Pope’s private rooms, and develop in two overlapping registers along the entire perimeter of the space, concluding on the opposite wall towards the camera paramenti superior, the seat of the Guardia dei Lanzi. There are illustrated episodes from the life of Sts. Steven and Laurence, expressed in parallel in accordance with the rhetorical law of correspondence, starting with their respective diaconal consecrations and continuing with their generous witness of faith, culminating in their martyrdom. The ceiling, divided into four sail-shaped sections by the ribs of the vault, is dominated by the portrayal of the Four Evangelists, whose authority – on which the foundations of Christian doctrine rest – is symbolically transmitted to the eight Doctors of the Church, represented in niches on the arches framing the walls. Although there are numerous references to antiquity in the architecture and poses, a fully Renaissance character may be seen in the moral force that emanates from the varied humanity of the frescoes, heroic and dignified as the protagonists of classical history. (Source : https://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collezioni/musei/cappella-niccolina.html, accessed 6/19/2023)
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Additional Details

Provenance 2018: Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, by transfer from the Art History Department;
likely by 1985 - 2018: Hamilton College (Art History department), by gift of James Garfinkel;
c. 1981-85: James Garfinkel, likely by purchase at auction in London.
Inscribed Recto, lower margin:"(Ed. Alinari) P. 2. N. 7493. ROMA - Vaticano, Cappella di Niccolo V. / San Lorenzo distribuisce i tesori della Chiesa in elemosina ai poveri. (Beato Angelico.)"
Verso, center of page (pencil): "St. Lawrence giving alms - Chapel of Nicolas V Vatican / Fra Angelico"
San Lorenzo distribuisce le elemosina
Fratelli Alinari Fotografi Editori
Date: 1875-1900
Medium: Albumen print
Object number: S2018.2.159
Cylinder Vessel
Date: c. 700-950 CE
Medium: Ceramic with pigment
Object number: 2001.1.18
Roma - Sale Borgia. Interno della sala dei Pontefici
Fratelli Alinari Fotografi Editori
Date: 1875-1900
Medium: Albumen print
Object number: S2018.2.668
Roma - Palazzo Vaticano. Sala della Segnatura, con gli aggreschi di Raffaello
Raphael
Date: 1875-1900
Medium: Albumen print
Object number: S2018.2.612
Roma - Palazzo Vaticano. Sala della Segnatura, con gli aggreschi di Raffaello
Raphael
Date: 1875-1900
Medium: Albumen print
Object number: S2018.2.613
Photograph by John Bentham.
Date: probably 17th century
Medium: Pen and ink on paper
Object number: 1996.15.2
Firenze - R. Museo di S. Marco. Primo corridore. con l'Annunziazione
Fra Angelico
Date: 1875-1900
Medium: Albumen print
Object number: S2018.2.793
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
Date: c. 883-859 BCE
Medium: Gypsum with remnants of red pigment
Object number: 1868.5
Artwork is in the public domain. Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Museum of Art at Hamilton…
Date: c. 700-692 BCE
Medium: Gypsum alabaster
Object number: INV.629
Dettaglio - Chiesa militante e triofante, S Maria Novells (Detail - Church militant and triumphant, S Maria Novella)
Domenico Anderson
Date: 1875-1900
Medium: Albumen print
Object number: S2018.2.403
Roma - Palazzo Vaticano, stanze di Raffaello. La disputa del Sacramento
Raphael
Date: 1875-1900
Medium: Albumen print
Object number: S2018.2.614