Isaiah

This panel – a pinnacle panel – comes from the uppermost part of a large multi-panelled altarpiece made for the church of Santa Croce, Florence. There were originally six of these, four of which survive. There are two others in our collection, showing David and Moses; one, showing the prophet Daniel, is in the Philip G. Johnson collection in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.This is the prophet Isaiah. His face and beard are still in good condition but much of the panel has been damaged, including a large part of the Latin inscription on the scroll he carries. Only the last part of the word nomen (‘name’) is visible now. The word suggests that the inscription is probably taken from Isaiah 7:14: ‘Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.’The verse was interpreted by Christians to refer to the conception of Jesus Christ – appropriate for the altarpiece, which focused on Christ’s birth being foretold in the Old Testament and being part of God’s divine plan. This panel would have been placed above one showing Saints James the Greater and Philip, which appeared above an image of John the Baptist (both are now in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin). Saint John foretold Christ’s ministry and significance.Like the other pinnacle panels in the collection, this has holes in the areas to either side of the pointed arch for decorative framing elements to be slotted in.