Dragan Altarpiece

This is an oil painting first made on wooden panel and later transferred to canvas. At the centre, the Virgin and Child sit enthroned, flanked by saints standing on either side. To the left are a female saint, possibly Catherine of Alexandria, along with George and Nicholas; to the right are Anthony Abbot, Sebastian and another female saint, probably Lucy. The symmetrical arrangement, with the standing figures framing the throne, gives the scene a clear and orderly structure.

The altarpiece takes its name from Giorgio Dragan, a shipowner who commissioned it for his private altar in the Venetian church of Santa Maria della Carità. When that church was suppressed in 1812, the painting passed to the state and ended up in what is now the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice, where it still hangs. It is of interest both as a devotional image and as an object whose support changed over time.

Painter

Giovanni Battista Cima da Conegliano

Date

1496

Medium

oil paint, panel, transferred on canvas

Dimensions

419 × 213 cm

Museum

Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice

Genre

religious art

Depicts

boy, Mary, woman, mother, Christ Child

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