Girolamo Nardini (San Angelo in Vado, near Udine 1450-1516 ?)

In 1935, when acquired by the Detroit Museum of Art, this picture was believed to be a newly rediscovered work by Raphael. During the subsequent campaign of restoration the naked foot of Saint Sebastian was revealed, proving that the picture was a fragment of a larger altarpiece, probably a Sacra Conversazione with the Madonna and Child amongst Saints with a donor in prayer beneath. The signature, the primary reason for the attribution to Raphael, had not altered during the cleaning process, and was therefore considered genuine.
 
In 1948 Federico Zeri reported the discovery of a cache of around 200 photographs (op.cit.), probably dating to the end of the 19th century and possibly once belonging to a dealer or scholar. Amongst these images was an altarpiece with the Madonna and Child enthroned on a pedestal, flanked by Saint Sebastian to her left and the Archangel Raphael with Tobias to her right. Below the Virgin’s throne and on the pedestal a latin inscription read: Franciscus. Ugucionus. De. Pergula. Quadrerius / Ac. Exercitus. Magr. // Mi. Et. Exc///.Emtissimi.D / Guidiubaldi. Urbini. Ducis Santeq. Ro. Ec. Genera. / Capita. Tpre. San. D. N. D. Iulii. II. Sacellum. Hoc. Beate. Vir. / Arcan. Raphaeli. Divoq. Sebast. Erexit. Ano. D. M. V. I. Beneath this inscription appeared a donor in prayer, before a frieze, and this lower section was recognised by Zeri as the Detroit Raphael.
 
After studying the altarpiece as a whole, Zeri concluded that it could not have been painted by Raphael but rather by one of the Nardini brothers, probably Gerolamo. However, this re-attribution raised the question of the signature, which had survived the restoration process and was therefore believed to be genuine. In response to this, Zeri turned his attention to the epitaph below the Madonna which read: Arcan. Raphaeli. Divoq. Sebast. Erexit. Ano. D. M. V. I. This final line is that which appears just over the donor and corresponds to the signature in the fragment. Given that there was no evidence of a signature in the photograph of the entire altarpiece, that final sentence of the epitaph, which contains the word “Raphael” already, must have been transformed into the signature that is now visible.