Antependium
Gennaro De Blasio (act. 1724–40)
Antependium, 1731
Silver and gilt bronze
38 3/4 × 95 1/4 × 11 7/16 in. (98.5 × 242 × 29 cm)
Terra Sancta Museum, Jerusalem
© The Frick Collection
This antependium is made of three parts: a central relief showing the Pentecost—the moment when the Holy Spirit appeared to the Virgin Mary and the apostles after the resurrection of Christ—and two wings with the figures of St. Bonaventure (left) and St. Louis of Anjou (right) in niches. The altar frontal is signed by Gennaro De Blasio, son of the Neapolitan silversmith Andrea De Blasio and consul of the guild of silversmiths in the city in 1740. The antependium arrived in Jerusalem on June 8, 1731.