Zanobi di Benedetto Strozzi (Italian [Florentine], 1412 - 1468), Sts. Nicholas, Lawrence and Jo…

Sts. Nicholas, Lawrence and John the Baptist

Artist Zanobi di Benedetto Strozzi Italian (Florentine), 1412 - 1468

Dateca. 1448 - 1450

Place of OriginItaly

MediumTempera and gold leaf on wood panel

DimensionsPanel: 30 x 18 5/8 x 1 5/16 in. (76.2 x 47.3 x 3.3 cm)
Frame Dimensions: 34 3/8 x 23 1/8 in. (87.3 x 58.7 cm)

ClassificationsPaintings

Credit LineThe Hyde Collection Trust, 1952

Object number1971.29

On View

On view

Collections

European Paintings & Sculpture

InscribedOn frame top member: "Langton Douglas"

MarkingsOn frame top member, oval label: "J. Chenue, french packer, 25 Monmouth Street/Aftesbury Avenue, London, W.C.2" Label on panel reverse: see detailed description and photo in conservation file. Paper label "29945" Stenciled in black: "587" Red wax stamp

DescriptionThis panel painting of three standing saints—Nicholas of Bari, Lawrence, and John the Baptist—served as the left wing of an altarpiece by Zanobi Strozzi, of which five pieces are now distributed among five collections. Its companion right lateral panel similarly depicts three standing saints: Zenobius, Francis, and Anthony of Padua (Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven). The central panel depicts an "Enthroned Virgin and Child" (The Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg), where a nude Christ stands on Mary’s lap holding an orb while she holds a lily stalk. The three panels’ connection is confirmed by their figures’ identical halo types, by small bits of Mary’s red rug in the central panel overlapping the lower inner corners of each wing, and by part of Zenobius’s drapery overlapping the central panel. Two additional panels formed part of a once three-panel predella, as confirmed by their size relative to the panels above them: a "Nativity" (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) originally under the central panel, and an "Adoration of the Magi" (National Gallery, London), originally under the right wing. The missing leftmost predella panel, from under The Hyde’s three saints, most likely depicted an Annunciation. Additional smaller panels would have completed the upper parts of the polyptych.

The Hyde’s saints are easily identifiable. St. Nicholas, a bishop, appears in ecclesiastical garb holding a red book with three gold balls resting on it. He used the gold to provide dowries for destitute young girls. St. Lawrence, dressed as a deacon, stands on the instrument of his martyrdom, a grill. St. John the Baptist, barefoot and dressed as a hermit under his lavender outer drapery, is the only saint among the total of six who directly stares at viewers. Gesturing with his right hand, he directs their gazes towards the nearby Christ Child standing on Mary’s lap. His body language refers to his most famous pronouncement, "Ecce agnus dei" ("Behold the lamb of God").

While the original donor and location of the altarpiece are unknown, the collection of saints offers several clues, as Laurence Kanter has suggested. The presence of both Sts. Francis and Anthony of Padua suggest a Franciscan venue; the inclusion of Sts. John the Baptist and Zenobius—both patron saints of Florence—suggests a location in that city; and Sts. Lawrence and Nicholas could refer specifically to the donor or perhaps to a chapel where the altarpiece originally was located.

The Hyde panel, along with its counterpart in the Yale University Art Gallery, were at some unknown time both truncated at the top, while the Hermitage’s "Madonna and Child" was reduced at least seven centimeters at the bottom. Zanobi Strozzi was a sometime collaborator with and, according to Giorgio Vasari’s 1550/1568 "Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects," a pupil of Fra Angelico.

Text by Penny Howell Jolly, Professor Emerita of Art History, Skidmore College, February 2026Exhibition History"Objects of Devotion", Hoopes Galllery, The Hyde Collection, Nov. 30, 2003- Feb. 29, 2004.

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, "Fra Angelico", October 24, 2005 - January 30, 2006.Provenance1938, Richmond, England, F. E. Sidney
1938, London, England, Christie's (Sidney Collection auction)
1938, London, England, R. Langton Douglas (attributed to Domenico di Michelino)
1940, Glens Falls, NY, Mrs. Charlotte P. Hyde
1952, Glens Falls, NY, The Hyde Collection Trust