Ancona or “Altare delle Statue”

You have surely already seen many altarpieces. Those sacred paintings, often on wooden panels, which in the Middle Ages and Renaissance were placed above or behind altars.In this majestic work, Begarelli uses sculpture, instead of drawing and the usual pictorial techniques, to create an altarpiece. As proof of this we know that, in the initial plan, the four figures of Saints Peter, Paul, Geminianus and Benedict, at the base of the composition were intended to be painted in natural colours, and not left white in imitation of marble as was usually the case and as planned for the Virgin in glory above them. Furthermore, the decorative framework enclosing the sculptural group enhances the impression of an isolated image, framed much like a painting. Sculpture thus becomes painting through both chromatic and compositional choices.The work, however, was not completed according to its original design due to the artist's death in 1565, although it was later continued by his nephew Ludovico and other sculptors. It was the master's last work for the Monastery of San Pietro. And Antonio Begarelli is still here. The space that once occupied the altar has housed his tomb since the end of the 19th century. The master rests beside his unfinished work and leaves us with a lingering doubt: what finishing touch might he have added to this majestic altarpiece?