Saint Barthélémy

Cecco di Pietro's Saint Bartholomew, now in the Musee du Petit Palais, was likely part of a polyptych altarpiece showing multiple saints flanking a central Madonna and Child. The apostle Bartholomew, traditionally shown holding the knife of his martyrdom, was widely venerated in medieval Italy. Cecco was the most prominent painter in late fourteenth-century Pisa, where his workshop produced a steady stream of altarpieces combining Pisan local traditions with broader Tuscan Gothic influences.

Egg tempera on gold-ground panel, with the saint rendered in Cecco di Pietro's characteristic Pisan manner featuring firm contours and warm tonalities. The figure holds his attribute clearly for identification, set against a richly tooled gold background with punched decorative patterns in the halo.