San Fiorenzo gonfalon

Benedetto Bonfigli
tempera on canvas
1476

The story of this painting from the Chiesa di San Fortunato di Perugia (currently on loan to the Romanian orthodox community) has close links with an outbreak of the plague in the city. The gonfalon [banner] has two distinct areas. The lower part shows Santi e Beati [saints and spirits] from the Ordine dei Servi di Maria [Servite order] which held services in the church the banner originates from, together with San Sebastiano, the saint invoked against the plague; the upper section depicts Maria in the act of prayer with the Holy Child already bearing the stigmata of the crucifixion and at whose feet angels hold a basket brimming with roses. At the centre of the lower section an angel holds a sign with a text in Italian vernacular establishing a parallel between the reprehensible behaviour of Perugian citizens and the return of the plague.

The gonfalon is a painted banner which was carried during processions to invoke divine intervention or give thanks for divine clemency. Religious orders and confraternities organised many processions of this kind and they played an important role in the city’s social life. Bonfigli painted many of these banners which demonstrate his sagacity and skill at interpreting scripture in a manner easily understood by the faithful and yet also drawing on Renaissance imagery.