The Burial of Saint Zenobius

Davide Ghirlandaio painted these three enchanting scenes about 1479 for the base (predella) of an important altarpiece commissioned from his brother, Domenico, for the church of San Giusto alle Mura outside Florence. Two further scenes are known; the main panel is in the Uffizi in Florence.
According to legend, at the burial of Saint Zenobius a dead tree sprang to life when it was touched by the saint's bier. The baptistery and campanile of the cathedral of Florence provide the setting. Florence appears in the background of the scene where Tobias catches a fish whose innards will heal his father’s blindness.

This panel and two others in The Met, together with another two in the Detroit Institute of Arts and the National Gallery, London, formed the predella of an important altarpiece painted by Ghirlandaio for the high altar of the church of San Giusto alle Mura, Florence. All five were still together in 1827, when they belonged to Johann Metzger in Florence (Rumohr 1827). The altarpiece is mentioned in 1510 by Albertini: "La tauola maiore di Domenico Gril[landaio]". Located in the area now occupied by Piazza Donatello, San Giusto belonged to the Jesuati (or Gesuati)—a lay order founded by Giovanni Colombini in 1367, the members of which performed charitable works. The church was originally dedicated to Saint Justus of Lyons (the fourth-century bishop of Lyons), a relic of whom was preserved in the church (the reliquary is now in the Museo del Opera del Duomo). It was demolished in 1529, during the siege of Florence, but Vasari gives an account of its contents in his life of Perugino (by whom there were three altarpieces): "At the summit, one mounted four stairs to an area measuring six braccia on which was the high altar with many ornaments carved of stone; and on the said altar there was placed an altarpiece with rich ornaments, as has been said, from the hand of Domenico Ghirlandaio." Subsequently, the altarpiece was transferred to the hospitaller church of San Giovannino (renamed San Giusto alle Calze) near the Porta Romana, and it was there that Vasari admired it, giving a detailed description in his life of Ghirlandaio. The predella is mentioned by Richa (1761). Read more...

Notes:
This panel comes from the predella of the altarpiece commissioned from Domenico Ghirlandaio by the Gesuati for their church of San Giusto alle Mura. The predella also included the Marriage of the Virgin (The Met, 13.119.1), Tobias and the Angel (The Met, 13.119.3), the Fall of the Rebel Angels (Detroit Institute of Arts), and Saint Justus Distributing Bread (National Gallery, London). The main panel (Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence) represents the Madonna and Child Enthroned with the Archangel Michael, Saints Justus and Zenobius, and the Archangel Raphael (see Gronau 1927 for reconstruction).

The altarpiece is mentioned in a contract of June 6, 1486 commissioning Antonio di Sangallo to copy the design of its frame for another work by Ghirlandaio now in the Galleria dello Spedale degli Innocenti, Florence (see Küppers 1916 and Cadogan 2000).
(Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art)