Domenico d'Agostino and a hypothesis for the reconstruction of the funerary monument of bishop Angelo Del Pecora in the cathedral of Montepulciano

Abstract

 The article aimes to discuss the complex art-historical history of the disiecta membra of the 14th century funeral monument situated in the Cathedral of Montepulciano. The gisant has always been incongruously recognised as the figure of the bishop and humanist Francesco Piendibeni (1353-1433). This essay argues the close stylistic connection between the gisant, collocated in the counter façade of the cathedral, and the two statues of St. Peter and St. John the Baptist, placed in the Cocconi Chapel in the same church, all belonging to the workshop of the Sienese sculptor Domenico d’Agostino. In the second place, this dissertation proposes to identify the gisant with the figure of Angelo Del Pecora, a member of a wealthy Polizian family and bishop of Chiusi, who lived in the first half of the 14th century. Subsequently, the article has been assumed a reconstruction of the interior of the ancient parish church of Montepulciano and both the position of the tomb inside the church and its architectural structure have been hypothesized. Finally, the movements of the two statues and especially the gisant were reconstructed, which was crucial in order to understanding the reasons of the confusion between the identities of the two bishops.