The answer is more simple than it at first appears. There is no doubt that the scenes in the Gothic gables are the work of the Camaldolese monk, and as we cannot logically infer that they were specially painted by him for Fra Angelico's picture, we must suppose, and indeed firmly believe them to have been added at a later time. In fact, the form of the foliated Gothic decoration lacks character and does not harmonize with the pilasters which clearly show, too, a subsequent adaptation of the frame. The finials of the pilasters do not match the style of the gables, in fact it is clear that the Gothic ornamentation, taken from some painting by Lorenzo Monaco, was at a more recent date adapted to Fra Angelico's altar-piece.
Fra Giovanni painted a panel picture of the "Dead Christ" for the "Compagnia del Tempio" in Florence; this is now in the Ancient and Modern Gallery, having been placed there in 1786, after the suppression of that Company.
Rio supposes that the enthusiasm aroused by the great Deposition in Santa Trinità, tempted the Company to covet the possession of a similar one.[47]
Only two figures, however, are common to the two paintings: one is the St. Simeon kneeling in the left corner who, in this second picture, is represented as a younger man than in the first; the other is a figure a little behind him, which is a reproduction of that one in the large Deposition with a hood on his head, who is speaking to the disciple below him, as he entrust to him the body of the Saviour;--a figure which Milanesi believes to be a portrait of the architect Michelozzo.
If this be indeed Fra Angelico's friend the Florentine architect, we may admit Cartier's assertion that this panel is a sequel of the larger Descent from the Cross, and may have been painted at the same time.[48] But these are things which we dare not affirm with any certainty, as we entertain doubts regarding the greater or less authenticity of writers on the subject of Michelozzo's portrait.
Besides many figures of saints, the painter has introduced those of St. Dominic and the Beata Villana, because the Company of the Temple had ancient rights over the relics of this good woman which are preserved in the Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella. The other figures, though expressing divers feelings of sorrow and lively sympathy, have nothing in common with the famous Deposition either in character or technique and the picture does not reach the usual perfection.