Between the motet collections and the writing of his will, however, many of these figures also appeared in the large altarpiece that we now know Gesuldo commissioned from the Florentine painter, Giovanni Balduccio, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Balducci for placement in his personal church, Santa Maria dell Grazie. That Gesualdo had built the church and its adjoining Capuchin monastery in 1592 is attested to by an inscription at the entrance to the cloister of the Capuchins, but the commission for the alterpiece was not completed until 1609. . . .
In the alterpiece, the Redeemer sits in Judgment at the top of a painting that shares elements of both a typical ‘sacra conversazione’ and the last Judgment.Gesualdo, outfitted in Spanish ruff, appears in the lower left-hand corner in the kneeling posture of a penitent. His uncle, Carlo Borromeo, resplendent in his Cardinal’s robes, protectively places his right arm on his nephew’s shoulder. It is of no little interest that Borromeo would be declared a saint the very next year, in 1610, securing an even more powerful resonance for Gesualdo’s altar commission. On the left-hand side of the picture, beginning at the top, are the Blessed Virgin Mary with St. Francis at her side. Just below we see Mary Magdalene with her traditional jar of unguent for the anointment of the dead Christ’s feet; on the right side from the top are Archangel Michael, St. Dominic, St. Catherine of Siena, and, at the very bottom, Eleonora d’Este. ~ page 66
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Dinesh said:
In the alterpiece, the Redeemer sits in Judgment at the top of a painting that shares elements of both a typical ‘sacra conversazione’ and the last Judgment. Gesualdo, outfitted in Spanish ruff, appears in the lower left-hand corner in the kneeling posture of a penitent. His uncle, Carlo Borromeo, resplendent in his Cardinal’s robes, protectively places his right arm on his nephew’s shoulder. It is of no little interest that Borromeo would be declared a saint the very next year, in 1610, securing an even more powerful resonance for Gesualdo’s altar commission. On the left-hand side of the picture, beginning at the top, are the Blessed Virgin Mary with St. Francis at her side. Just below we see Mary Magdalene with her traditional jar of unguent for the anointment of the dead Christ’s feet; on the right side from the top are Archangel Michael, St. Dominic, St. Catherine of Siena, and, at the very bottom, Eleonora d’Este. ~ page 66