The Virgin Enthroned with Child and Saints, known as the “Vallombrosa Altarpiece”
The vicissitudes of this splendid altarpiece are long and troubled; it was commissioned by the monks of Vallombrosa to Domenico Ghirlandaio around 1480. For a long time erroneously attributed to Sebastiano Mainardi, it was recognized as one of Ghirlandaio’s works only at the end of the 19th century and then transferred to Florence for restoration. This restoration work, carried out by Guglielmo Botti who was among the most noted restorers of that time, together with its having been kept in a less than ideal environment, further worsened its state of preservation. Only very recently was the altarpiece taken from storage and subjected to a new and careful restoration at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure. In 2006 it was returned permanently to the Vallombrosa Abbey and placed in its Museum of Sacred Art.
The work was almost certainly carried out a little after 1486 and was destined for an altar dedicated to Saint John Gualbert, the founder of the Vallombrosan order. The most recent critics have attributed parts of it to Ghirlandaio’s workshop assistants. Easily visible at the Virgin’s sides are: Saints Blaise, with a wool comb, the instrument of his martyrdom and John Gualbert, with a Crucifix and the staff with a tau-shaped grip and lion protomes. Next to them are Saint Benedict, with a bundle of sticks, a symbol of the precepts gathered into his Rule which the Vallombrosans also adopted, and Saint Anthony the Abbot, with his staff to which a small bell is tied and a book of the holy scriptures.
As a whole, it is an essential composition, stripped
completely of those worldly and earthly allusions that
we usually find in the Florentine works of Domenico
Ghirlandaio. A work that is overflowing with emotion,
even if inspired by the simple values of meditation and
spirituality, an obvious reference to the rule on which
the Vallombrosan order based its whole spiritual path.
Domenico Ghirlandaio, The Virgin Enthroned with Child and Saints Blaise, John Gualbert, Benedict and Anthony the Abbot, around 1485; original color and paint mixture transferred on to a wooden support; 160 x 251 cm