Saint John the Baptist and Saint Lucy (or Saint Illuminata from Todi) – Metropolitan Museum – New York
The two panels, depicting Saint John the Baptist and Saint Lucy (or Saint Illuminata from Todi) were part of one of the largest and most prestigious altarpieces of Florence during Renaissance, commissioned in 1500 by the friars of the church of the Servi della Santissima Annunziata.
Designed by the architect and carpenter Baccio d’Agnolo (1462-1543), the altarpiece was structured like a complex polyptych: on a structure in the form of a triumphal arch in classic style, the panels were arranged on the front, back and sides. Initially, the realization of the tables was entrusted to Filippino Lippi, who died on 20 April 1504; on 5 August 1505 the task then passed to Perugino, who finished the work in 1507.
The panels of the polyptych, now dismembered, are currently preserved in various museums scattered around the world (with the exception of theAssumption of the Virgin, which remained in a side chapel of the church of the Santissima Annunziata in Florence): the Deposition is at the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence; Saint Helena and another Saint are now at the Lidenau Museum in Altenburg; Saint Catherine of Alexandria is in a private collection of Rome and Saint Philip Benizi at the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, also in Rome.
Saint John the Baptist and Saint Lucy (or Saint Illuminata from Todi) are currently preserved at the Metropolitan Museum in New York; the two tables depict the saints in niches, whose semi-dome is supported by pilasters ending with Doric capitals.
The Baptist, on the left, is dressed in a simple tunic that leaves his chest uncovered, while a stole hangs from his left shoulder, wrapping around his hips; his right hand is raised in the act of indicating the central part of the altarpiece, while with the other he holds a cross.
On the other side Saint Lucy (or Saint Illuminata from Todi) holds with his left hand the cup from which the flame radiates, while in his right hand she has a book. She wears a simple but refined green robe, profiled on the square neckline and narrow at the waist by a belt, partially covered by a yellow cloak that descends from her right shoulder and then encircles her hips and legs. The face, with its sweet features, is tilted upwards.
The panels are preserved at the Metropolitan Museum, in New York.
