Eloquenza del frammento: un esercizio sulla predella francescana di Ugolino di Nerio nel Museo di Villa Guinigi a Lucca

The focus of this essay will be a fragmentary predella by Ugolino di Nerio, currently displayed at the Museo di Villa Guinigi in Lucca. This piece, which has received limited scholarly attention, most likely constituted the static base of a polyptych comprising at least five panels. In terms of its compositional, typological, and iconographic characteristics, the predella is closely aligned with the earliest examples of iconic predellas, featuring saints or apostles portrayed within small, round or trilobed arches. This format, initially introduced in Duccio’s workshop and further systematized by Simone Martini, stands among the most noteworthy innovations in the structural configuration of early polyptychs, where the painted predella functioned as both a stabilizing element and an iconographic complement. A detailed stylistic, technical, and iconographic analysis of Ugolino’s work will offer the key to a circumstantial reconstruction of a previously unconsidered ensemble: a polyptych made for the Franciscan church in Lucca. This polyptych will be reinterpreted as a defining moment in Ugolino di Nerio’s evolving exploration of altarpiece structures, shaped through continuous dialogue with the models established by Duccio and Simone.