The polyptych is signed in the cartouche visible on the step in the central panel . It was commissioned for the convent annexed to the church of Santa Maria extra moenia in Messina , also called San Gregorio , whence its modern name . The panels were originally connected by a carved frame in Neo-Gothic style , which was likely removed from as early as the 16th century . The work is in poor state . One of the panel was removed in the 16th century or later , and in 1842 there was a drastic restoration of what remained . In 1908 , the former convent where the work was destroyed by the 1908 Messina earthquake , leaving its art pieces exposed to the rain which fell in the following days . In that occasion , large parts of the Madonna 's mantle and of St. Gregory went lost
1908 Messina earthquake
1908 Messina earthquake
San Gregorio Polyptych