The San Marco Altarpiece by Fra Angelico

The grandiose altarpiece commissioned by the Medici's family to Fra Angelico for the new church of San Marco in Florence is now on display in the Museo Nazionale di San Marco. Among the many saints who sorround the Virgin with Child, the two Saint physicians Cosmas and Damian are kneeling in the foreground.

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The predella was originally made of nine small paintings about the life and martyrdom of Cosmas and Damian. Only two of them are preserved in the Museum, while the others are scattered in museums around the world.

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The two remaining ones concern the burial of the saint brothers and the miraculous healing of the Deacon Justinian, traditionally considered the prototype of an organ transplant.

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  • Photos by Luca Borghi ti.supmacinu|ihgrob.l#| (August 2023)


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