Full title | Saint Bartholomew |
---|---|
Artist | Probably by Bartolomeo Caporali |
Artist dates | active 1467 - 1491 |
Series | Altarpiece: The Virgin and Child with Saints |
Date made | probably 1475-80 |
Medium and support | Tempera and oil on wood |
Dimensions | 122.9 x 48.9 cm |
Inscription summary | Dated |
Acquisition credit | Bought, 1881 |
Inventory number | NG1103.3 |
Location | Not on display |
Collection | Main Collection |
A bearded saint stands on a marble parapet against a shimmering gold background. This is Saint Bartholomew, one of the Twelve Apostles, the first disciples of Christ. He was skinned alive – the flaying knife is his attribute, the symbol associated with him. He was once part of a triptych (a painting in three parts) that was probably made by Bartolomeo Caporali.
Bartholomew gazes out at us, his robe wrapped around him in deep sculptural folds. His bent knee and turned out feet give him a feeling of solidity, as does the shadow he casts on the marble.
But the illusion of reality is contrasted with the intricately decorated burnished gold background. Caporali was known for doing gilding work and making coats of arms, banners and decorations for ceremonies. The fine incised lines in the saint’s halo and the elaborate curling foliage behind him would have caught the light in a dim medieval church.
A bearded saint stands on a marble parapet against a shimmering gold background. This is Saint Bartholomew, one of the Twelve Apostles. After Christ’s death, they became missionaries and established Christian churches in Europe and further afield.
The picture was once part of a triptych that was probably painted by Bartolomeo Caporali – it is very close in style to an altarpiece that we know Caporali made, now in Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Perugia. Other panels from the triptych are also in our collection.
Nothing is known for certain about Bartholomew’s life. In the Middle Ages he was believed to have gone to India and Armenia and then been skinned alive at Derbend, on the Caspian Sea. The knife he holds here is the flaying knife, his attribute and the instrument of his martyrdom. By association he became the patron saint of tanners and all who work with skins.
Bartholomew stands firmly, gazing out at us, his richly coloured robe wrapped around him in deep sculptural folds. His bent knee and turned out feet give him a feeling of solidity, as does the shadow he casts on the marble behind him – features we also find in the work of Caporali’s contemporary Carlo Crivelli.
But – again, as in Crivelli’s work – the illusion of reality is contrasted with the sparkling and intricately decorated burnished gold background. A gold leaf background like this is particularly characteristic of Italian fourteenth- and fifteenth-century paintings. The gold would have been beaten from coins and then laid over a gesso ground; patterns were punched and incised in it with handheld tools. Caporali was known for doing gilding work and for making coats of arms, banners and decorations for ceremonies, and was especially interested in decoration. The fine incised lines in the saint’s halo and the extraordinarily elaborate curling foliage behind him would have caught the light in a dim medieval church. The foliage behind the saints is unusual in panel painting; it looks very like the kind of decoration that was popular in the borders of Florentine manuscripts.
The panel has lost its original frame, though you can see traces of the beginning of an arch at the top where the frame sat. It has been cut down too, so it is shorter than it once was.
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Saint Bartholomew
Altarpiece: The Virgin and Child with Saints
Two of the most popular late medieval saints – Francis, who died in 1226, and Bernardino of Siena, who died in 1444 – present a young man to the Virgin and Child and a choir of angels; he’s the altarpiece’s patron. In the outer panels stand Saints John the Baptist and Bartholomew.
We don't know where this altarpiece came from, although Caporali seems to have worked mainly in Umbria. Neither do we know who the patron was, though clearly he was a man with a special devotion to the Franciscans, the religious order Francis founded.
This is one of the rare paintings of saints that actually resemble the person they depict. Bernardino was a famous travelling preacher who drew large crowds to his outdoor sermons. Many paintings of him were made immediately after his death – possibly from his death mask, which still survives – and show him as here: an old man with a toothless mouth and sunken cheeks.
Two of the most popular late medieval saints – Francis, who died in 1226, and Bernardino of Siena, who died in 1444 – present a young man to the Virgin and Child and a choir of angels: he is the altarpiece’s patron. In the outer panels stand Saints John the Baptist and Bartholomew.
This kind of altarpiece – a triptych with a larger panel in the centre, flanked by standing saints traditionally set against a burnished gold ground – was the most popular form in Italy through much of the Middle Ages. Large churches would have had multiple altars, each with its altarpiece; even quite small parish churches may have had several.
We don‘t know exactly where this altarpiece came from, though Bartolomeo Caporali seems to have worked mainly in Umbria. We don’t know the patron’s identity, though he was clearly a man with a special devotion to the Franciscans, friars who took religious vows but were not confined to a monastery. Founded in the thirteenth century to provide educated preachers and teachers for a growing urban population, they flourished in fifteenth-century Italy. Men who joined the Franciscan Order took vows of poverty and travelled from place to place, preaching and living on what was given by their listeners.
This is one of the few paintings of saints that actually resembles the person it depicts. Bernardino was a famous mendicant preacher and drew large crowds to his outdoor sermons. He spoke out against ‘vices’ such as fine clothing and homosexuality, and encouraged a devotion to the holy name of Jesus; he is often shown with an IHS monogram, as in Giorgio Schiavone’s painting of him. He wears the ash-grey habit of the especially strict Observant (reformed) Franciscans, known in England as the Grey Friars. Many paintings were made of Bernardino immediately after his death – possibly from his death mask (which still survives) – and show him as here: an old man with a toothless mouth and sunken cheeks.
Caporali was born, died and worked in Perugia and his very traditional style – the smooth, flowing lines, decorative colours and burnished gold backgrounds hark back to International Gothic – was primarily influenced by the work of his teacher Benedetto Bonfigli. Some aspects recall Florentine painting: the radiating lines incised into the haloes are derived from Florentine painters of the 1430s and 1440s, such as Fra Angelico and Fra Filippo Lippi. The smoothness of his paint handing – look at the skin of the Virgin and the angels – and his way of painting draperies show similarities with Benozzo Gozzoli.
All the panels in this altarpiece have been cut down. The marble parapet would have run horizontally across all three panels, and they had pointed arched tops. The original frame, which was possibly very elaborate, is also missing. There might well have been more panels and possibly a predella.



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