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Beheading of Saint James the Great: Predella Panel

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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Saint James kneels in prayer; behind him a vigorous executioner raises his sword. James the Great was the first of Christ’s apostles to die for his faith, being put to death by King Herod Agrippa in Jerusalem in AD 44.

This is one of five scenes from the predella, the bottom tier, of the Pistoia Santa Trinità Altarpiece, painted for a confraternity of priests in Pistoia in the late fifteenth century. The altarpiece was begun by Pesellino and completed by Fra Filippo Lippi and his workshop after Pesellino’s death.

The underdrawing (the preliminary outlining of a composition) of these scenes is hugely detailed, and it seems likely that Lippi did the designs but left the painting of some of the panels to his assistants.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

Beheading of Saint James the Great: Predella Panel

Date

1455-60

Medium

Egg tempera, tempera grassa and oil on wood

Measurements

H 27.5 x W 38 cm

Accession number

NG4868.2

Acquisition method

Presented by Mr and Mrs Felix M. Warburg through The Art Fund, 1937

Work type

Painting

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Normally on display at

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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