The Representation of Holiness Between Realism and Devotion in the Polyptych of Montefiore dell’Aso by Carlo Crivelli

The article seeks to draw attention to the saintly bodies depicted by Crivelli in the polyptych for Montefiore dell’Aso, considering them from different points of view. As written in the introduction, the figures painted by Carlo Crivelli are not simple representations of people, but contain deep religious meanings. The second part of the article focuses on the importance of the technical process of gilding used in the Montefiore panels for the definition of the holy figures, and its significance for a more precise dating. In its third part, the paper suggests a new identification for the Franciscan saint painted in half length with St. Anthony of Padua; the final section looks into Crivelli’s mode of representing the holy bodies of St. Francis and, above all, of St. Louis of Toluse, who wears a ring in which the artist left a previously unnoticed inscription.