Giovanni di Paolo's Pizzicaiuolo Altarpiece

* In preparing this article I profited largely from the helpfulness of collectors and of the curators of the museums and collections in which the paintings under consideration are preserved. The research was greatly stimulated by the interest of my colleagues at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Of these Professor Marvin Eisenberg gave countless valuable suggestions. Above all I am indebted to Mrs. Elisabeth Beatson, whose enthusiasm and critical remarks form a huge contribution to the completion of this study.

Abstract

Few problems in the history of Sienese painting have given rise to such heated and intricate debate as the dating and original arrangement of Giovanni di Paolo's scenes from the life of St. Catherine of Siena (Figs. 1–10). All ten panels once formed part of the collection of Jean Antoine Ramboux, a Nazarene painter and one of the most important collectors and copyists of early Italian art. Today only one of these precious little paintings remains in Europe (Fig. g). Eight are dispersed among various collections in the United States, and the ninth, once in the Minneapolis Art Institute, cannot be traced (Fig. 10).¹