• Author: Fra Bartolomeo
• Date: 1516
• Collection: PAINTING
• Technique: Oil on wood panel
• Dimensions: 210 x 140 cm (with frame)
• Inventory: Inv. 1890 n. 1449

This panel, together with its twin depicting the Prophet Isaiah, also preserved in the Gallery, belonged to an altarpiece created by Fra Bartolomeo for the chapel of the banker Salvatore Billi in the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata in Florence. This altar was in the centre of a monumental niche: in the centre there was the Salvator Mundi (today Florence, Galleria Palatina, dated 1516) while, on the sides, there were the two Prophets, at an angle of slightly more than 90 degrees to the central element, creating the impression of a half-open triptych. Job reveals a scroll with a Bible verse alluding to Christ’s role as Saviour. The figure of the patriarch was very popular in Florence during the leadership of Fra Girolamo Savonarola, who considered him an intermediary between God and mankind.

The creation of the altarpiece for the Billi Chapel, which was intended to complement the decoration of the solemn architecture of the niche, and the complex execution of three paintings closely related in composition and iconography, was Fra Bartolomeo’s last and most ambitious work.