San Donato altaarstuk

Joos van Cleve's San Donato Altarpiece belongs to his production of devotional works for the Italian market, demonstrating the international reach of Antwerp's export trade in high-quality religious paintings. Saint Donatus, a fourth-century bishop of Arezzo who was martyred by lightning, was a local Italian saint whose cult had particular regional devotion, and an Antwerp altarpiece for a church dedicated to this saint documents the remarkable circulation of Flemish devotional objects into Italian sacred spaces. Van Cleve's quality and his ability to handle both northern and international devotional requirements made his workshop attractive to diverse commissioning contexts.

The devotional composition is rendered with attention to the expressive and contemplative qualities that served the painting's function as an aid to prayer and meditation.