Das Buonvisi Altarbild

The Buonvisi Altarpiece

These panels were commissioned as an altarpiece by a silk merchant, Benedetto Buonvisi, for a chapel in the church of San Frediano in Lucca. The chapel was dedicated to Saint Anne, the Virgin's mother. Saints Benedict, Lawrence and Paul were the name saints of the patron and his father and brother. Sebastian (far left) was a protector against plague, which was severe in Lucca in 1510.