European Painting before 1900, Johnson Collection Scourging of
the Four Crowned Martyrs Section of an altarpiece; companion
panels are in the Denver Art Museum (no. E-IT-18-XV-927); the
Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama (no. 1961.119); and a private
collectionMade in Italy, Europe Niccolò di Pietro Gerini,
Italian (active Florence), first documented 1368, died 1415
Tempera, silver, and tooled gold on panel with vertical grain
Cat. 1163John G. Johnson Collection, 1917 This panel illustrates
a story of four Middle Eastern Christian sculptors, known as the
Crowned Martyrs, who refused to carve pagan images for the Roman
emperor Diocletian. In the upper left, Christ comes to comfort
them during their torture, while below, devils strangle the
Roman official Lampadius, who ordered the punishment. The Four
Crowned Martyrs were patron saints of the Florentine Guild of
Stonemasons and Carpenters, which also included sculptors in
their membership. The painting comes from an altarpiece the
guild commissioned for its alt