Assumption of Mary into Heaven between Saint Thomas and Saint Sebastian

Matteo di Pietro da Gualdo
tempera on panel
1495-1500

This artwork is a clear example of the subtle, folkish poetry of Matteo da Gualdo’s style, a painter who was so dear to Federico Zeri that, given the former’s penchant for painting elongated figures, he christened him “a provincial Modigliani of the fifteenth-century”. At the outset of the 20th Century, this painting was part of the Salvadori collection in Venice. A conservation operation carried out in 2000 confirmed the panel’s authenticity, and it was thus classified among the foremost creations of Matteo da Gualdo, an eccentric painter of the late 15th Century who worked in Gualdo Tadino, Nocera Umbra, and Assisi.

The Museo Civico di Gualdo Tadino (Gualdo Tadino Civic Museum) is home to ten of his paintings. The Nocera Umbra Pinacoteca is equally well-endowed with, amongst other works, a magnificent panel portraying l’Incontro di Gioacchino e Anna alla Porta Aurea di Gerusalemme (Meeting of Joachim and Anne at the Golden Gate to Jerusalem). It’s truly in comparison with this that it can be confirmed Matteo di Pietro’s arousing and fantastic expressiveness is on full display in this marvellous masterpiece in belonging to the foundation’s collection. It would thus be reasonable to date this work to around 1495-1500.