A Dominican Preaching
Agnolo degli Erri·c. 1470
Historical Context
This panel depicting A Dominican Preaching by Agnolo degli Erri dates to around 1470 and likely formed part of a predella or narrative cycle. The Erri brothers — Agnolo and Bartolomeo — were the leading painters in Modena during the second half of the fifteenth century, running a productive workshop that served religious institutions across Emilia. The scene captures the Dominican order's central mission of public preaching.
Technical Analysis
The tempera on poplar panel shows the Erri workshop's characteristic style: crowded compositions with architectural settings, expressive gestures, and vivid narrative detail. The angular figure style reflects the influence of both Paduan and Ferrarese painting traditions.
Provenance
Commissioned c. 1470 for the old church of San Domenico, Modena; church demolished and rebuilt 1708, and its paintings perhaps dispersed at that time.[1] Baron Michele Lazzaroni, Rome, by 1925.[2] Mrs. Felix Warburg, New York, by 1936;[3] gift 1941 to NGA. [1] L. Vedriani, in _Raccolta de' pittori modonesi più celebri_, Modena, 1662: 23, noted that the St. Thomas Aquinas altarpiece was in a chapel on the rood screen of San Domenico. [2] It was first noted in the Lazzaroni collection by Bernard Berenson, "Nove pitture in cerca di un' attribuzione," _Dedalo_ 5 (1925): 607. [3] Bernard Berenson, _Pitture italiane del Rinascimento_, Milan, 1936: 323.
