The Armour Archive

Hi Guys,

I've just posted a handful of the pics I took of the Pistoia silver altar online, from my recent trip around Europe. I was given permission to take as many photos as I liked, so I tried to get as many angles as possible. This is only a selection of the set of photos I took, and I'll upload a few more pics of the other panels when time permits. Please feel free to re-post the link to my pics, and if you intend to use any of my photos for any publication please contact me first as I have higher resolution versions of these pics which I would be happy to provide, along with my contact details for photographer credit. Here's a link to the album. Enjoy!

Updated link (as of August 2020) as the link changed within google photos:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/M3r3TErqL45DLXKy9

Quite impressive! And there's more to come.

Thanks for sharing! These are excellent.

Look at the hands. They are often open. I suspect the altarpiece once had weapons in them which projected outward. That would have been cool to see.

Very awesome! Thanks for the amazing photos!

RPM

Talbot wrote:Look at the hands. They are often open. I suspect the altarpiece once had weapons in them which projected outward. That would have been cool to see.

You can see sockets in some hands, you are right it would have been really cool.

Do we know who the artist/workshop is for that altarpiece? It looks quite a bit like the doors to the Florence Cathedral Baptistery by Ghiberti. I wonder if it was the same artist or someone from the same "school".

I've got some info on the artists and construction dates written down at home. I'm currently 1000km from home at a 14thC hastilude for the weekend, but will post dates and artist info here when I get home in a few days time.

No worries, it was more of a hmmmmm, I wonder question.

The book with referencing which I bought from the cathedral is "The Silver Altar of Saint James in the Cathedral of Pistoia" by S. Ferrali, published by the Cathedral (no publication date is provided).

All the pics I've posted so far are from the Left side of the altar (when facing toward the altar), dated 1361. Here's an excerpt from the above book on these panels:
"The frontal dates to 1361 and is work by Francesco Niccolai and Leonardo di Ser Giovanni. The remarkably dynamic figures already anticipate great Renaissance artists like Ghiberti and Iacopo della Quercia." p. 13, Ferrali.

The book is inconsistently translated from Italian, and it later refers to this as the right panel (wish I'd bought it also in Italian now that I notice!), where it describes the content of these panels:
"The altar-frontal, its disarming beauty seen in the details of the plants and animals adorning the background of some panels, is the work of Leonardo di Ser Giovanni and gives a summary depiction of the life of St James, beginning from his call to the apostolate up to his martyrdom and the legendary translation of his remains to Spain." p. 13, Ferrali.

The artists who worked on the altar (by panel) include:

*** Altar Front Dossal ***
Giovanni di Bartolomeo Cristiani (late 14thC, design of upper section of front dossal)
Nofri di Buto (late 14thC, upper section of front dossal)
Atto di Piero Braccini (late 14thC, upper section of front dossal)
Piero d'Arrigo Tedesco (statues of St Anthony the Abbbot and St Stephen Protomartyr, and the 9-section predella of the altar front dossal)
Master Pace di Valentino of Siena (1290-1300, middle 2-level section of front dossal, possibly modified in 14th-15thC)
Master Gilio Pisano (enthroned St James statue on front dossal, 1353)

*** Altar Frontal ***
Andrea di Iacopo d'Ognabene (1316, altar frontal, 21 panels)

*** Left Side (facing the altar) ***
Piero d'Antonio da Pisa (upper left side)
Franceso Niccolai & Leonardo di Ser Giovanni (1361, lower left 9 panels)

*** Right Side ***
Filippo Brunelleschi of Florence (Statues on upper right side)
Leonardo di Ser Giovanni (lower right 9 panels)

Thanks for the fabulous photos Hugh!

Here's what I found on the dating of the 9 panels of the lower left side and the 9 panels on the lower right side of the altar.
http://books.google.nl/books?id=i3Od9bc ... &q&f=false

In short:

- The 9 panels on the lower right side - which were originally placed on the left side! - were made by Francesco di Niccolò and his assistent Leonardo di Ser Giovanni between 1361-1364. They depict episodes of the Old Testament. Possibly the last two panels ('Birth of the virgin' & 'Betrothal of the virgin') were made by Leonardo only.

- The 9 panels on the lower left side - which were originally placed on the right side! - were made by Leonardo di Ser Giovanni in between 1367-1371. They depict the Life of Saint James the Greater.
These are the panels showing all the soldiers.

Cheers,
Bertus

thanks for the info! I think what jumped out at me was the common artistic shorthand for Antiquity, which is what made it look so similar to the Florence Baptistery doors. Plus a section was done by a Florentine artist.

Does anyone have Hugh McD's email address? We traded emails years ago and Google has taken down his photos.

PMed him on FB.

It appears the link has moved when google photos updated. Here's the new link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/M3r3TErqL45DLXKy9

I am publishing something in Medieval Warfare (Karwansaray) on the re-invention of the backplate around 1410. Can we print photos out of that set or the larger ones you sent me if I credit you?

They probably can't pay but they can credit you.

In case you missed this photo from last Halloween: