Giovanni da Capestrano and Stories of His Life

This polyptych, originally from the Basilica of San Bernardino, was dismantled into five separate panels and reassembled multiple times throughout the 20th century. The current configuration is the result of a restoration carried out in 1948. At the centre, the figure
of Giovanni da Capestrano is shown with a golden halo, dressed in the Franciscan habit, and holding a cross-banner adorned with the monogram of Saint Bernardino of Siena. The side panels depict four miraculous episodes from his life. On the left, The Mass at Peterwardein for the Crusaders before the battle against the Turks, with the divine announcement of victory, while below, The Battle of Belgrade (1456) shows the miraculous reversal of the enemy’s arrows. On the right, the upper panel illustrates The Sermon in L’Aquila (1426), with the exorcism of possessed, while below, The Death of Giovanni da Capestrano in Ilok (1456), where the healing of the crippled and sick is depicted. The arrangement does not follow a chronological progression, which was likely intended in the original layout.