Artwork
Saints Cosmas and Damian and their Brothers Surviving the Stake
Saints Cosmas and Damian and their Brothers Surviving the Stake is a tempera painting by the High Renaissance artist Fra Angelico. It dates from 1438 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Ireland.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The panel depicts the martyrdom by fire of Saints Cosmas and Damian, traditionally believed to have been twin brothers who practiced medicine without charge.
The panel depicts the martyrdom by fire of Saints Cosmas and Damian, traditionally believed to have been twin brothers who practiced medicine without charge. According to the legend, the Roman prefect of Cilicia, Lysias, condemned them to a series of tortures for refusing to renounce their Christian faith. The work shows the moment when the flames, instead of burning the saints, turned outward against their executioners.
Cosmas and Damian kneel at the center with their brothers Anthimus, Leontius, and Euprepius, encircled by a ring of fire that spreads outward, killing or driving off the torturers, while Lysias watches from an elevated tribunal surrounded by his dignitaries.
The scene is set in a city square that closely resembles Florence's Piazza della Signoria with the old Arengario of the Palazzo Vecchio, lending the sacred narrative a recognizable civic setting. The painting dramatizes the triumph of faith over persecution, presenting the saints' miraculous preservation as a divine vindication that overwhelms their persecutors.
Technique & Style
The painting was created as tempera on a wooden panel, measuring 37 cm by 46 cm, and is classified as a religious work within the Italian Renaissance movement. The composition depicts Saints Cosmas and Damian in a dramatic scene of condemnation, surrounded by fire that turns upon the executioners, rendered with a lively anecdotal style, dynamic diagonal lines, and a unified, luminous light achieved through delicate chiaroscuro modeling. The figures are arranged in a shallow, flat background that serves as a proscenium, emphasizing their presence.
The work originates from the San Marco Altarpiece predella, commissioned around 1438 and likely completed by 1443, and is currently housed in the National Gallery of Ireland.
History & Provenance
The work was commissioned by the Medici family around 1438 following their purchase of the high altar of the church of San Marco in Florence for five hundred ducats. The new altarpiece, replacing a previous Gothic panel donated to Cortona in 1440, was assigned to Fra Angelico as part of a broader convent renovation. While the main altarpiece is generally dated to no later than 1440, the predella panels, including this fourth panel from the series, were likely completed by 1443.
Originally positioned as the third panel on the front left side of the San Marco Altarpiece predella, the painting depicts the martyrdom of Saints Cosmas and Damian. The complete altarpiece was later dismantled and dispersed during the suppressions of the 18th and 19th centuries, leaving the predella panels scattered across various international museums.
The work is held in the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin. It bears the inventory or accession number that corresponds to its inclusion in that collection, though the specific accession identifier is not detailed in the provided sources. The painting was part of the original predella of the San Marco Altarpiece, commissioned for the high altar of the church of San Marco in Florence, and later came to be dispersed after suppressions in the 18th and 19th centuries.
It was exhibited as part of the predella series, appearing in the National Gallery of Ireland’s display of the San Marco Altarpiece fragments, and has been included in scholarly exhibitions concerning Fra Angelico’s works, such as those documented in art historical literature from the late 20th century.
Context
The panel depicting the saints' survival of the stake serves as a key example of Fra Angelico’s narrative innovation during the early Italian Renaissance. Originally the fourth panel in the predella of the San Marco Altarpiece, it reflects the Dominican order's commission under Cosimo de' Medici, who funded the church's re-dedication to the patron saints Cosmas and Damian in 1438. Scholars note the work's advanced spatial coherence compared to earlier pieces, utilizing diagonal lines to create movement within a setting modeled on Florence's Piazza della Signoria.
The painting is celebrated for its crystalline lighting and anecdotal style, which effectively dramatizes the miracle where flames harm the executioners rather than the kneeling saints. As part of an altarpiece dismantled during the 18th and 19th centuries, this panel now resides in the National Gallery of Ireland, standing as a well-preserved testament to the artist's mature technique and the Medici's cultural patronage.
Overview
Created in 1438 by the Dominican friar Fra Angelico, this wooden panel presents a dramatic episode from the lives of the early Christian martyrs Cosmas, Damian and their brothers. The work belongs to the early Florentine Renaissance and is currently housed in the National Gallery of Ireland.
Artist & collection
Artist
Fra Giovanni da Fiesole (born Guido di Pietro; c. 1395 – 18 February 1455), known posthumously as Fra Angelico ( FRAH an-JEL-ik-oh, Italian: ), was an Italian Dominican friar and painter active during the early…
