Milanese artist Gerolamo Giovenone was commissioned to paint an altarpiece for the chapel of the Congregation of Saint Ambrose in the church of San Francesco, in his home town of Vercelli, near Milan. In the central panel, which is now in a private collection in Vercelli, the artist depicted the figure of Saint Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan, wearing his bishop’s regalia and holding a crozier in one hand and a flail in the other. The side panels show saints wearing armour in a classical style. They each hold a martyr’s palm in one hand, while leaning on weaponry with the other in a jaunty manner.
Gradually, after the side panels had been detached from Saint Ambrose, the identity of these saints was lost. When acquired by Sir George Grey in the 19th century, the panels were attributed to the artist Bernardino Lanino (who had influenced Giovenone’s painting style) and believed to represent Saint Victor and Saint George, dragon-slayer of note. However, in 1998 a letter arrived at the Auckland Art Gallery from the Bishop of Milan, requesting the loan of the long-lost paintings of Saint Gervase and Saint Protase by Giovenone (not Lanino), as they wished to reassemble the altarpiece in an exhibition celebrating the importance of Saint Ambrose in Milanese art.
Gervase and Protasius (as he was formerly called) were twin sons whose parents had also been martyred for their Christian faith. They are usually depicted as beautiful youths, Saint Gervase holding one of the rods with which he was beaten to death, while Protase holds the sword with which he was beheaded. Bishop Ambrosius (Ambrose) found their remains on the 17th of June 386 AD, thus beginning a cult that spread throughout northern Italy.
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