Lot 130: *SANO DI PIETRO (1406-1481)

all gold ground, tempera on panel The present set of santini relates to another group of four panels (although of different format and slightly larger size) depicting Saints Crecenzius, John the Baptist, Dominic and Dorothy in the Chigi-Saracini collection, Siena (see L. Bellosi and A. Angelini, Sassetta e i Pittori Toscani tra XIII e XV Secolo, 1986, pp. 48-49, illus. fig. 16). Like these, the present panels all depict their saints facing left, and the punchwork in three of the four match the Chigi-Saracini examples very closely. Salmi in his catalogue of the Chigi-Saracini collection (see ``Dipinti senesi della raccolta Chigi-Saracini," Diana, VIII, 1933, p. 83) suggested that the unusual shape of the panels may have ``un tempo unite a formare il coperchio di un reliquiario in forma di cofanetto (at one time come together to form the cover of a reliquary in the form of a little box),'' and it is tempting to think that the present panels may have formed another part of the same object.

Booth Tarkington (1869-1946), the author and playwright