The Virgin with the Pomegranate is an exceptional work painted during one of the key periods in the history of art, in Florence, cradle of the Renaissance, in the first quarter of the fifteenth century, by one of its principal protagonists. Guido di Pietro, known as Fra Angelico and probably trained with Lorenzo Monaco, is first documented as an independent master in 1418. Between that date and 14
This altarpiece was painted for the monastery of Santo Domenico in Fiesole, near Florence. The central panel shows the Archangel Gabriel’s Annunciation to Mary under a portico. On the left, Adam and Eve are being expelled from Paradise. The damnation and salvation of Humanity. The predella has scenes from the life of the Virgin; Mary’s Birth, Her Wedding with Saint Joseph, Mary’s Visit to her cous
Painted for San Domenico in Fiesole, near Florence, where Fra Angelico lived as a Dominican friar, the principal panel of this altarpiece (P15/1) depicts the cycle of Man’s fall and salvation through the episodes of Adam and Eve expelled from Eden and the Annunciation to Mary, respectively. The predella panels (P15/2) depict scenes from the life of the Virgin.
This scene is from the predella of an altarpiece dedicated to Saint Anthony Abbot, the founder of the eremitic movement. Its technical and formal characteristics suggest a dating close to that of The Virgin with the Pomegranate. Like that work, it was acquired in Florence in 1817 by Carlos Miguel Fitz-James Stuart y Silva, 14th Duke of Alba de Tormes.