Saints Bernard, Scholastica, Benedict and John the Baptist: Main Tier Left Panel

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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Notes

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These four saints come from a large polyptych (multi-panelled altarpiece) made for the high altar of the church of San Giovanni Evangelista, in Pratovecchio, Tuscany.

From left to right we see Saint Bernard, his book inscribed ‘S.BER’; a nun, probably Saint Scholastica, with her name scratched above her head; Saint Benedict, holding his symbol of a bunch of rods, and a book inscribed ‘B’; and Saint John the Baptist, wearing a purple mantle over a hair shirt.

San Giovanni was a Camaldolese nunnery, and the saints chosen were ones important for the nuns there. Benedict wrote the Benedictine Rule, which the nuns followed, while Scholastica, Benedict’s sister, was the first abbess of the Benedictine Order. Bernard founded the Cistercian Order, which followed a stricter version of monastic life, and John was a hermit – Camaldolites lived partly as hermits.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

Saints Bernard, Scholastica, Benedict and John the Baptist: Main Tier Left Panel

Date

about 1420-4?

Medium

Egg tempera on wood

Measurements

H 147 x W 66 cm

Accession number

NG580.2

Acquisition method

Bought, 1857

Work type

Painting

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