Dalmasio di Iacopo Scannabecchi
Gregory Is Chosen Pope
Second half of the 14th century
Fresco
Bardi Chapel, Santa Maria Novella, Florence
In the Golden Legend St. Gregory sneaks out of Rome because he does not wish to be made Pope. He hides in a ditch, but the people find him when they see a shining pillar "descend from heaven straight upon the ditch." This fresco illustrates the tale. On the left, the pillar of light points to Gregory; the "ditch" is more of a cleft in the rock. On the right are the people of Rome. The one in white is the holy hermit who the Legend says "saw that by that pillar angels descended from heaven to St. Gregory and after went up again," an obvious borrowing from the biblical tale of Jacob's ladder (Genesis 28:10–19).
Apparently the attribution to Dalmasio is not certain. The label says it may be the work of another artist who is known only as "Pseudo-Dalmasio di Iacopo Scannabecchi."
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Read more about St. Gregory the Great.
Photographed at the site by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.