Albani Torlonia Polyptych – Albani Torlonia Collection – Rome
This painting is commonly recognized by critics as one of Perugino’s masterpieces; actually, some hypothesis attribute the execution of the work to one of his assistants. From 1866, after being transferred from Palazzo Albani to Palazzo Chigi, it has been part of the private collection of the Torlonia family, where it is still located.
The golden frame, not original, recalls a large window and leads to a spacious porch surrounded by a fairy-tale background that reveals a vaguely evocative lake; In the foreground, all the characters of the scene contemplate the Baby Jesus, lying on a pillow and a cloth.
The Holy Family is placed at the center of the scene, not on the more common side as it was typical at the time: this different placement of the characters represents a novelty in the compositional scheme ofscenes representing this theme, and i twill be repeated during the sixteenth century by other Italian painters.
This painting is preserved at the Albani Torlonia collection.
