Description
This panel belongs to the predella of the Carmine Altarpiece, completed by Pietro Lorenzetti in 1329 for the Carmelite church in Siena. It depicts the granting of the white mantle to the friars, a change authorised by Pope Honorius IV and adopted in 1287. On the right, the pontiff gives a light-coloured garment to a kneeling friar; on the left, other Carmelites watch the ceremony beneath an arcade. The gold ground, columns and patterned floor turn the event into a solemn and carefully organised scene.
The painting is now preserved in the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena. It shows how Lorenzetti used the small narratives of the predella to explain the history and identity of the religious community that commissioned the altarpiece. There is a cataloguing discrepancy concerning the pope: the Fondazione Zeri calls him Honorius III, although the historical change of clothing is associated with Honorius IV.
