The Aquila Polyptych

Giovanni Badile was a member of a dynasty of artists active in Verona from the middle of the 14th to the end of the 16th century. The polyptych represents the Virgin with a rather charmingly awkward Child and a small donor flanked by, from left to right, saints Anthony the Abbot, George, James, Peter Martyr, Zeno and Mammas of Cesarea. The fact that it is signed (central panel, lower right) makes this work an important point of reference in Badile’s career. A contemporary of Pisanello, he was one of the major painters of Verona in the early 15th century. The work is a typical example of a late Gothic polyptych.