Saint Pierre

Taddeo di Bartolo was a prominent Sienese painter of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries whose prolific workshop supplied altarpieces and frescoes throughout Tuscany and beyond. This image of Saint Peter, now in the Musee du Petit Palais in Avignon, likely formed part of a multi-panel polyptych showing Christ or the Virgin flanked by saints. Peter's prominence in such works reflected both his apostolic authority and the importance of Petrine imagery in late medieval ecclesiastical commissions.

Egg tempera on panel with gold ground, showing Taddeo di Bartolo's confident figure style and rich coloring. The saint is depicted with bold, volumetric drapery folds and a strongly characterized face, combining Sienese decorative traditions with an increasingly naturalistic approach to form.