cradle that has blocked and caused splits in the panel in the past but is now
housed in a stable environment may require no treatment, provided that
the painted surface is acceptable and the exhibition conditions will not fur-
ther aggravate the state of the panel. Finally, some consideration should
begiven as to whether the amount of risk involved in a proposed interven-
tion is justified by the amount of projected gain.In 1964 Federico Zeri published an article in Bollettino d’artelinking a
Nativityby Francesco di Giorgio in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in
New York with a fragment, God the Father with Angels,in the National
Gallery in Washington, D.C. (Figs. 1, 2) (Zeri 1964). He recognized that,
given the size of the Metropolitan Nativity(62.2 3 59.1 cm) and its likely
date, the rectangular format was improbable. He suggested that, stylisti-
cally, the upper portion of the panel required an arched top, and that
iconographic considerations would have dictated the representation of
God the Father giving a blessing or, at the very least, some sort of compo-
sitional closure. The Washington panel furnished precisely these elements.
The oval format of the Washington panel had long been consid-
ered suspect. In fact, various additions to the lower edge could be dis-
cerned with the naked eye beneath the overpainted sky. Close examination
ofthe Metropolitan panel revealed a horizontal addition of approximately
10 cm along the top edge.^1 Consequently, Zeri hypothesized that the twoOverview
342 Bisacca
Figure 1
Francesco di Giorgio Martini, Nativity,
1471–72. Tempera on panel, 62.2 3 59.1 cm.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.