The Virgin is enthroned before a cloth of honour with the Christ Child upon her lap, beneath a mosaic-encrusted dome. The saints from left to right are Saints Gall (on whose crozier the Baptism of Christ & Saint Paul are depicted), John the Baptist, Jame ...

Saint Catherine of Alexandria on the left is identifiable by her attribute of the wheel on which she was tortured, while Saint Catherine of Siena is on the right holding a lily, a symbol of purity. There was formerly a lunette to the picture, showing a ' Pi ...

The central panel is a mystic treatment of the Marriage of Saint Catherine of a type known as ' Virgo inter Virgines'. The edifice in the background may stand for the Gateway into Heaven. Left wing: Saint John the Baptist. Centre background: Saints Agnes & Agatha. Right wing: Saint John Evangelist. The greatest stylistic influence notable is the work of Geertgen tot Sint Jans. ...

The Virgin & Child are enthroned in a walled garden, a probable metaphor for her virginity. On the right Saint Barbara reads a book. Mary Magdalene, seated next to her holding on ointment jar, appears to be turning the pages. To the left Saint Catherine receives a ring from the infant Christ (she refused to marry an emperor on the grounds that she was already married to Christ). The everyday world represented beyond the wall was perhaps painted from contemporary Bruges. David's picture was almost certainly commissioned by the kneeling figure on the left, Richard de Visch van der Capelle, a cantor (senior cleric) of Saint Donatian, Bruges. His identity is recorded in the coat of arms on the greyhound's collar. In 1500 he sought to restore the chapel of Saint Anthony Abbot, who appears in the background behind Saint Barbara. This painting was almost certainly intended for the altar of Saint Catherine there. ...

The figures of the Virgin & Child are known in other works, & may be based on a lost picture by Rogier van der Weyden. The design above the window is a device of the Dukes of Burgundy. It also belongs to the Order of the Golden Fleece, which the donor (kneeling in the church doorway) wears. It has been suggested that he is Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (1433
- 1477), but the costume is probably of about 1490-95.
...

On the left is Saint Bonaventure, who is an important Franciscan saint, & on the right, Saint Francis himself; each of the saints is protecting a male donor. The painting's style is near to that of Defendente Ferrari. It is an early work. ...

The infant Christ places a wedding ring on the finger of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, while the Virgin gives Saint Barbara a crown. One of the rare surviving examples of the numerous cloth paintings produced in the Netherlands in the 15th & 16th centur ...

The seven figures in the tympanum above the central panel, are the Old Testament prophets Daniel, Moses, Isaiah, David, Abraham, Jacob & Jeremiah; on the left wing, Saint Dominic; on the right wing, Saint Aurea (probably Aurea of Ostia). It may have been made for the private devotion of Cardinal Niccolò da Prato (died 1321), a high-ranking Dominican who was Cardinal of Ostia & would therefore have had reason to venerate Saint Aurea of Ostia, otherwise rarely shown. This type of small-scale altarpiece with closing shutters was intended to be portable. The

Dimensions of this triptych are identical to those of a triptych of ' The Crucifixion with Saints Nicholas & Gregory' on the shutters (Boston, Museum of Fine Arts) which also seems to have been painted in Duccio's workshop. The exterior of the shutters in both triptychs have the same geometric patterns. The geometric patterns painted on the shutters prompt the worshipper as to the correct order of opening.

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Oradea, the widow of Giovanni Becchetti, founded an altar dedicated to S. Maria della Consolazione (Holy Mary of Consolation) in the church of San Francesco at Fabriano in 1490. This fulfilled her husband's wish, expressed in his will. Crivelli painted th ...

This altarpiece was painted for the burial chapel of the Rucellai family in the new church of S. Pancrazio, Florence, belonging to the Vallombrosans, an order of reformed Benedictine monks. Saint Jerome is represented in the background, deep inside his cave, as well as in the foreground. The entrance of the cave is protected from a wild bear by the saint's lion. The figure on the hill with an ass may be Joseph. There is a hospital in the distance on the right, perhaps associated with the charities of Saint Dominic. A bird carries a worm to its young in the nearest tree. The predella is original. The lamenting Saint Francis & Saint Mary Magdalene flank the dead body of Christ, which is supported by Joseph of Arimathaea. The body of Christ is placed in the centre of the predella, just above the place on the altar where the bread & wine of the Mass were placed. ...