The Archangel Raphael Preventing an Assassination

Gallery 309, European Art 1100-1500, third floor

Main Building

The Archangel Raphael Preventing an Assassination

1471

Neri di Bicci (Italian (active Florence), 1419– January 4, 1493)

In this scene set in a Florentine street, the archangel Raphael is shown saving a man from being killed. The victim’s turban-like hat, known in Italian as a mazzocco, has unfurled in the fray.

The obsession of Florentine artists with the illusionistic rendering of three-dimensional space, or perspective, can be seen in this painting; the incised lines for working out the architecture are visible through the paint. This panel originally formed a section of the predella, or base, of an altarpiece made for the church of Santo Spirito in Florence. The architect who designed the church, Filippo Brunelleschi (Italian, 1377–1446), inspired the use of perspective in painting through his experiments in constructing buildings according to mathematical principles.

Gallery 309, European Art 1100-1500, third floor

Object Details

Title:

The Archangel Raphael Preventing an Assassination

Date:

1471

Artist:

Neri di Bicci (Italian (active Florence), 1419– January 4, 1493)

Medium:

Tempera and tooled gold on panel

Dimensions:

8 3/8 x 19 1/8 inches (21.3 x 48.6 cm)

Classification:

Paintings

Credit Line:

John G. Johnson Collection, 1917

Accession Number:

Inv. 2073

Geography:

Made in Florence, Italy, Europe

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Gallery 309, European Art 1100-1500, third floor

Main Building

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