L’oratorio di Santa Caterina all’Antella e i suoi pittori

edited by Angelo Tartuferi

exhibition catalogue: Ponte a Ema, Oratorio di Santa Caterina, 19 September-31 December 2009

Built by the Alberti family in the mid-14th century, the Oratory of Santa Caterina all’Antella houses an extraordinary pictorial cycle that was recently restored. The works were completed in succession by three of the leading artistic figures of the second half of the century: the Barberino Master, Pietro Nelli and Spinello di Luca, called Spinello Aretino. While the latter was working at the Oratory in the late 1380s, Agnolo Gaddi’s enormous triptych, which is now at the Uffizi, was installed over the altar. The recently restored triptych will be returned to its original location temporarily and displayed alongside works—some of which previously unknown or never exhibited before—by the three artists who painted the Oratory. The catalogue, which opens with essays by Isabelle Chabot, Paolo Pirillo, Daniela Lamberini and Angelo Tartuferi, offers a critical updated reconstruction of the history, architecture and decoration of the Oratory, as well as profiles of the artists who worked on it. It focuses in particular on Spinello Aretino, defining his importance in the artistic context of the late 14th century and his rapport with the other master of Late Gothic art, Agnolo Gaddi. The book is part of the ‘City of the Uffizi’ series conceived by Antonio Natali, Director of the Uffizi, and supported by the various municipalities involved and the responsible Soprintendenze. The aim of the project is to re-establish the ties between the Uffizi and the area around it.