School of Barcelona, follower of Pere Serra, circa 1380 - 1390

Pau Farnés (d. 1981), Barcelona, since the 1960s;

Thence by descent within the family;

From whom acquired by Sam Fogg, London;

From whom acquired by the present collector, 2023.

This predella, depicting Saint Paul, Saint Ursula, Mary Magdalene, the Virgin, Christ as the Man of Sorrows flanked by the arma Christi, Saint John the Evangelist, an unidentified female martyr, Saint Catherine, and Saint Peter, is situated within the Catalan school, and more specifically Barcelona, circa 1380–1390. The compositional formulas and figural types point to a master working in the orbit of, or directly influenced by, Pere Serra, whose devotional idiom shaped late fourteenth-century Catalan panel painting.

While the punched gold ground might initially suggest an earlier date, the contemporary fashions worn by the martyrs indicate an execution closer to the final decades of the century. The predella is further distinguished by its unconventional arrangement: Saints Paul and Peter are positioned in reverse order, and all figures direct their attention toward Christ, with the notable exception of Saint Catherine, who turns instead toward Saint Peter—an idiosyncratic deviation that animates the otherwise hierarchical devotional schema.

We are grateful to Dr. Antoni José i Pitarch, who endorsed the authentication of this painting based on photographs.