Resumen de The Aretine polyptych by Pietro Lorenzetti: patronage, iconography and original setting
An examination of the patronage, iconography, and original setting of the Aretine polyptych, a three-story panel painting produced by Pietro Lorenzetti for the high altar of Santa Maria della Pieve, Arezzo, in around 1320–24. The writer discusses the role of the authorities in charge of the cult and the maintenance of the Pieve with regard to the making of the altarpiece. He investigates the cult held in the Pieve to help explain certain iconographic features established by the patrons. In the light of newly discovered documents, he considers the execution of the polyptych in the context of renewal works in the Pieve during the course of the 1320s. He examines the original setting of the altarpiece in relation to a new proposal for the layout of the choir area, which probably differed considerably from the pseudo-Romanesque reconstruction of the 19th century.
