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Lot Essay
Francesco del Cossa, together with Cosimo Tura and Ercole de' Roberti, was one of the most influential artists active in Ferrara and Bologna during the second half of the quattrocento.
Although damaged, the present work is of interest as one of the relatively few secular works of its type to survive from late-fifteenth-century Ferrara. The story of the Roman Emperor Trajan putting aside pressing issues of state to render justice to a widow illustrates the importance of humanity and integrity. The episode was popularized in Dante's Divine Comedy, as recounted in Purgatory, X, 73-94.
Although damaged, the present work is of interest as one of the relatively few secular works of its type to survive from late-fifteenth-century Ferrara. The story of the Roman Emperor Trajan putting aside pressing issues of state to render justice to a widow illustrates the importance of humanity and integrity. The episode was popularized in Dante's Divine Comedy, as recounted in Purgatory, X, 73-94.