The dominant religious influence in Bologna during this period was Cardinal Paleotti, who began his pastoral activity in 1566. He had been a significant figure in the Council of Trent three years earlier, in particular, in the last session’s discussion on sacred art. Responding to the Lutheran reforms which condemned sacred images as vehicles for superstition, the Council had reaffirmed the role of religious art ass the "Bible for the poor’, its task being to educate the illiterate.

This simplicity and clarity of content is demonstrated in this enormous altarpiece by its clear division of the realms of Heaven and Earth. In the celestial zone the Virgin is crowned Queen of Heaven by the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, who together hold three crowns above her head. They are accompanied by a host of cherubs bearing stalks of pink roses — the rose being the symbol of the Virgin Mary and the cult of the Rosary. Saints Luke, Dominic and John the Evangelist kneel in the earthly realm below. Saint John is accompanied by his eagle, and the centre bottom of the canvas is dominated by the large ox of Saint Luke, presumably writing his gospel, holds it open as if to invite the viewer to read the illegible text. The central placement of the sacred texts in the composition underlines this direct relationship between written word and divine image.

Saint Luke is also the patron saint of artists, and while the heads are generally schematised, his head is probably a self-portrait. Passerotti’s usual way of signing his altarpieces is by inclusion of a sparrow (passerotti means ‘young sparrow’ in Italian), and with this practice he is clearly inspired by the classical example of the Augustan Roman sculptors Batraco and Sauro (who substituted a frog and lizard for their written signature). In Passerotti’s altarpiece the sparrow is boldly placed on the open page of the book, which would have been just above the altar below.

The painting has been dramatically presented in an appropriate late Renaissance altar setting. The plaster work was executed by Ornamental Plasterworks, Thebarton, and the gilding and marbling was undertaken by the Gallery’s workshop.

There are very few major altarpieces in Australian public collections and certainly none on this scale. Recently unveiled by the Premier, the Hon. Mike Rann, this imposing work is displayed in a monumental late Renaissance architectural surround in the centre of gallery 13. As the parting gift of the late Mary Overton, its acquisition marks a fitting culmination of her seminal contribution to the Gallery’s collection as our most generous single financial benefactor. Along with Asian and Colonial Australian works, her legacy includes no less than six 16^th and 17^th century Italian Renaissance and Baroque paintings.