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Triptych

Primary (Bologna, Italy, 1330–1399)
NationalityItalian, Europe
Datecirca 1390-1395
MediumTempera with gold leaf on wood panel
DimensionsOverall: 23 11/16 × 18 5/8 in. (60.2 × 47.3 cm)
Additional Dimension: 21 1/4 × 4 5/8 in. (54 × 11.7 cm)
Credit LineBlanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, The Suida-Manning Collection, 2017.1372
Collection AreaEuropean Painting and Sculpture
Object number2017.1372
On View
On view
Locations
  • exhibition  BMA, Gallery, A9
Label Text
Normalizing the style of his brilliant teacher, Vitale da Bologna, Simone became the leading painter in Bologna in the second half of the 14th century. His appellation owes to his execution of several monumental depictions of the Crucifixion for major churches in that city. By the 1360s, having built his reputation, he added small-scale polyptychs for private devotion as another specialty. This painting offers a particularly efficient synopsis of the principal mysteries and foundation of the Christian church. The dark underpainting, which heightens contrasts and modeling in the flesh tones, the delicate drawing, and the relatively loose application of paint are characteristic of the Bolognese school of the period. And the prosaic charm and accessibility of the personalities is typical of Simone’s style. Exceptional, however, is the condition of this work, with the paint surface practically undisturbed, the gold leaf revealing its original patterns of application, and even the complex finials of the frame unrestored.
Exhibitions
Saint Bernard
Unknown French
circa 1470
Saint Augustine
Attributed to Giovanni Ambrogio Bevilacqua
1495–1500
Saint Jerome
Attributed to Giovanni Ambrogio Bevilacqua
1495–1500
Madonna and Child
Giovanni Badile
1428-29
Saint Bernard
Niccolò di Pietro Gerini
circa 1390-1395
Saint Clare
Filippo Mazzola
1502–1505
Saint Catherine of Alexandria
Unknown Venetian
late 14th century
Madonna and Child with Angels
Giovanni dal Ponte
1410s
Three Marys at the Tomb
Jacopo da Empoli (Jacopo Chimenti)
1570s
Supper at Bethany
Bernardino Butinone
1490s