Polyptych of Saint Rocco

On 28th January 1523 representatives of the San Rocco brotherhood signed a contract with Cesare da Sesto for an altarpiece for the main altar in the oratory of Porta Romana, for a fee of one hundred scudi. The polyptych consists of six main panels, divided into two levels, which today are enclosed in a nineteenth-century frame. The group was then completed by four doors painted with the figures of St. Peter and St. Paul, St. George and St. Martin inside, and outside the Annunciation, St. Rocco and St. Sebastian. On the death of the artist on 27th July 1523, two of his collaborators completed the figure of St. Christopher, adding the landscape and the doors. The polyptych summarises the experiences of Cesare da Sesto, who arrived in Rome in the early sixteenth century with an already solid knowledge of Leonardo’s art and was able to deepen his knowledge of the works of Michelangelo and Raphael.