Sull’ancona lignea della Madonna Sistina di Raffaello

At the State Archive of Piacenza a document, dated 1518, records the settlement of a payment made by the monks of San Sisto to two woodcarvers from Pavia, Giovanni Antonio Tiraboschi and Francesco de Cervi, who were commissioned to create a carved wooden frame for the high altar of the church. Since the high altar of the church of San Sisto was adorned with Raphael’s Sistine Madonna, the discovery of the notarial draft allows us to know the possible authors of the original frame of the painting, and it provides some further insights into its plausible appearance as well.