Antonello da Messina (c.1430-1479)
Pala di San Cassiano (San Cassiano Altarpiece)
1475–1476
Oil on poplar panel
Center table: Madonna and Child, 115 × 63 cm
Left panel: Saint Nicholas of Bari and Saint Magdalene (?), 55.5 × 35 cm
Right panel: Saint Ursula and Saint Dominic, 56.8 × 35.6 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Mary with Child and St. Nicholas of Bari, Anastasia (?), Ursula, Dominic and (overlapped by the frame) Helena
The altarpiece for the church of San Cassiano in Venice, which was sawn up in the 17th century and therefore only survives as a fragment, originally showed the Madonna enthroned in a church interior and eight saints (today: Nicholas of Bari, Anastasia (?), Ursula, Dominic and Helena). Just as forward-looking as this new type of altarpiece (“Sacra Conversazione”) was the technique of oil painting, which Antonello had become acquainted with in Naples through Franco-Flemish painters. (KHM)