Crucifixion and Saints James, Bartholomew, Augustine and Stephen

The name of the author of this polyptych is not documented, but scholars have recognized his style in series of paintings dating from 1330 to 1340, and have assigned him the conventional name of Pseudo Jacopino. Recently, there was a proposal to separate this and other works from the series, attributing them to a different artist named Maestro dei Polittici di Bologna - Master of the Bolognese Polyptychs.

The painting comes from the suppressed Benedictine abbey of San Naborre e Felice, which was one of the most ancient in Bologna.

The work is on two levels: the Coronation of Mary is shown in the lower central part, while in the lateral sections, framed by spiral columns, portrayed from the left, are Saints Benedict, Nabor, Felix and the Archangel Michael.

The scene of the Crucifixion occupies the upper central part; on the sides from the left are Saints James, Bartholomew, Augustine and Stephen.

The expressiveness of the gestures and faces, like that of St. Nabor, which became one of the symbolic images of the Pinacoteca, is typical of fourteenth-century Bolognese painting, as well as attention to clothing and fashion details.

For example, Saints Nabor and Felix wear wide sophisticated robes with sleeves, enriched with gold decorations. St. Felix (right), is holding gloves, at that time an uncommon accessory and a symbol of authority and power. However, he has taken them off, indicating respect for the sacred scene.

The saints depicted in the upper section, in addition to the traditional iconographic attributes that distinguish them, all hold books in their hands, perhaps a tribute to Bologna, an established academic city and home to an ancient university.