Battesimo ed elezione di San Zanobi (c.1500)

Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510)

Battesimo ed elezione di San Zanobi (Baptism of St Zenobius and His Appointment as Bishop)
c.1500
Tempera on wood, 66.7 x 149.2 cm
National GalleryLondon

Four Scenes from the Early Life of Saint Zenobius.

This painting was made as part of a group of four works that tell the story of the life of Florence’s patron saint, Zenobius; it is the first of the series. It shows four scenes of his early life as a Christian, from his rejection of marriage to his ordination as Bishop of Florence.

It can be read like a cartoon strip from left to right. In the first scene on the left Zenobius walks sadly away from his fiancée and crosses the road to be baptised under the loggia (open-sided gallery or room) of an elaborate building with columns decorated with gold. His mother is shown being baptised in the next scene. Finally, we find Zenobius kneeling before the pope who is about to make him bishop. He is accompanied by young men in white vestments – they might represent members of the religious group devoted to Zenobius, who may have ordered the pictures. (NG)

Compare:

Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510)
Tre miracoli di San Zanobi
c.1500
Metropolitan Museum of ArtNew York

 

 

Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510)
Tre miracoli di San Zanobi
c.1500
National GalleryLondon

 

 

Botticelli, Sandro (c.1445-1510)
Ultimo miracolo e morte di san Zanobi
c.1500
Gemäldegalerie Alte MeisterDresden

 

 

See also:

• Zenobius of Florence, St. (337-417)