Resumen de Ripensando Fra' Bartolomeo in San Marco
Rethinking Fra Bartolomeo in San Marco.
In connection with the project for the canonization of Antonio Pierozzi, archbishop of Florence and prior of the monastery of San Marco, two versions of the rare depiction of his Apotheosis are examined here. One is a triptych for the private devotion of a Dominican commissioner, and the other a sketch for a large composition that was never executed, which were entrusted to Fra Bartolomeo in 1516.
It is also suggested that the three large paintings by Fra Bartolomeo: the "St Vincent Ferrer" (now in the Museo San Marco, Venice), the "St Sebastian" (lost), and the "St Mark the Evangelist" (now in the Galleria Palatina, Florence), originally had different placements in the church of san Marco from those assumed to date. While "St Mark the Evangelist" is confirmed as being positioned to the side of the central opening in the rood screen that separated the brothers' choir in the main chapel, which came under discussion again recently, it is proposed that "St Vincent Ferrer" and "St Sebastian" were in the choir, above the splendid Medici doors that still exist, but are no longer visible.
