Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, a wing of an altarpiece

Michele di Matteo, sometimes known as ‘Michele da Bologna’ or ‘Lambertini’, is first documented in 1410, when he collaborated with Francesco Lola on decorations for the celebrations held in Bologna for the arrival of Antipope Alexander V. While little is known of his early career, he presumably trained in the workshop of Jacopo di Paolo given affinities with the artist’s handling of drapery, use of color and the articulation of hands (A. Galli, ‘Michele di Matteo’, The Alana Collection: Italian Paintings from the 13th to 15th Century, I, Miklós Boskovits, ed., Florence, 2009, p. 125). By 1415, Michele di Matteo was registered in the Società delle Quattre Arti in Bologna and collaborated with Pietro Lianori and Giovanni da Modena, the city's leading painters in the first half of the fifteenth century. Massimo Medica notes the prevailing influence of both these artists in the present work, particularly in the figures' stern expressions and gestures (loc. cit.).

This panel once formed part of a larger polyptych's whose central image, a Madonna and Child Enthroned, is today in the Cotroceni National Museum, Bucharest. Another flanking panel, depicting Saint Bartholomew and Emperor Heraclius, is in the Museo Civico, Pesaro (fig. 1). Gaudenz Freuler also identified various predella panels from the same altarpiece, representing scenes from Heraclius’ journey to recover the True Cross from the Persians, including works in the Musée du Petit Palais, Avignon; Galleria dell’ Accademia, Venice; Musée du Louvre, Paris, and a private collection (loc. cit.).