Predella with three scenes of Saint Roch, and figures of Saint Peter, Christ as Salvator Mundi, Saint Laurence and Saint Paul. Oil painting by a French (?) painter.

A predella possibly produced for the chapel of a pest-house or hospital in the Pyrenees

Three horizontal wooden panels painted with scenes in the life of Saint Roch are punctuated with projecting vertical blocks painted with sacred figures. The left panel shows Saint Roch embarking from Montpellier to Rome, the central panel shows him appearing to patients in a pest-house or lazaretto, and the right panel shows him in prison on his return unrecognized to Montpellier. The four figures on the faces of the blocks are (left to right) Saint Peter, Christ as Salvator Mundi, Saint Laurence and Saint Paul. The sides of the blocks are gilded

The scenes in the life of Saint Roch can be interpreted sequentially from left to right, in which case the central scene would represent him comforting the plague-victims during his visit to Italy. However, Professor Eduard Seidler suggested that, whereas the two left and right panels show scenes from the saint's life, the central panel shows Saint Roch "today", i.e. at the time the predella was created, appearing as in a vision to the patients in the pest-house in which the predella was situated, to encourage them to believe in their ability to survive the plague. The saint with his dog appear in the clouds, above left, waking up some of the patients who look up in astonishment, while others remain asleep in the beds

[between 1580? and 1620?]

1 painting : oil on wood ; wood 38 x 220.5 x 24.6 cm

Wellcome Collection 45996i