Seraphim, Cherubim and Adoring Angels: Right Pinnacle Panel

This is one of two panels, almost mirror images of one another, that flank either side of the central and uppermost panel of the large altarpiece made for the church of San Pier Maggiore, Florence.

Gathered together against a completely gold backdrop representing heaven are groups of angelic beings: seraphim in red and cherubim in blue in the upper tier, and angels playing musical instruments and swinging incense-filled thuribles below.

The central panel showed the Trinity: God the Father; Christ, his son; and the Holy Ghost as a dove. This painting evokes heavenly sounds and scents and is intended to add a sense of majesty and awe to the central image of the Trinity.

These images come from a large, four-tiered altarpiece created for the high altar of the choir of the church of San Pier Maggiore in Florence. It was made up of a number of separate panels, most of which are now in the National Gallery's collection.

Although only the facade of the church remains today, it was one of the oldest and most important religious institutions in Florence when this altarpiece was made. It was founded by the first bishop of Florence, Saint Zenobius, in the fifth century. The picture formed the backdrop to one of the ceremonies relating to the ordination of each bishop of Florence until the late sixteenth century.

The altarpiece was most probably commissioned by the wealthy Florentine Albizzi family and many of its saints relate to their family or their trade as wool merchants. The central images showed the coronation of the Virgin by Christ surrounded by adoring saints - a highly popular image in Florence.

Credit: Bought, 1857