Ex Major Altar
XV century
Andrea Guardi. The group is made of various elements that in the past were part of the Great Altar, until it reached the present location in 1947/48.
In the upper part, from left: St Peter, St John the Baptist, the Virgin and Child, St Andrew and St Paul. In the lower part, the polyptych, is made of four panels depicting, from left:
– the martyrdom of Peter
– the beheading of John the Baptist
– la crucifixion of Andrew
– la conversion of Paul.
The four panels are separated by figures of the Doctors of the Church and in the middle ones, two people praying, a man on the left and a woman on the right, that, according to tradition, are the commissioners of the work themselves, meaning Spinetta Campofregoso and his wife Caterina Malaspina, lords of Carrara from 1448 to 1473.
Coronation of the Virgin
XV century
This is a High relief which was previously believed to depict Countess Matilde di Canossa (1046-1115) being crowned by Pope Gregory VII. In actual fact, the work was part of the dismantled polyptych by Guardi and depicts the Coronation of the Virgin Mary. The angels (cherubs) are created with a technique called “stiacciato”, by which the sculptor uses a very shallow bas-relief creating an effect of linear perspective.
Other sections of the marble polyptych are kept in the internal courtyard of the ‘Academy of Fine Arts’ in Carrara. This artwork was restored in 2012 thanks to funding from the ‘gruppo consorti’ of the Rotary Club Carrara and Massa in memory of Barbara Ciaponi Giannotti