santi domenico e paolo

Bernardo Daddi painted these paired saints, Dominic and Paul, around 1340, likely as lateral panels from a dismembered polyptych originally in a Florentine church. The inclusion of Saint Dominic suggests the altarpiece was commissioned for a Dominican context, while Saint Paul's presence references the apostolic foundation of the Church. The panels are now preserved in the Kunstmuseum Bern, part of the widespread dispersal of Italian Gothic panels across European collections in the 19th century.

Rendered in tempera on gold ground panel, the two saints stand as dignified half-length figures with carefully individualized features and attributes. Daddi's refined technique is evident in the subtle tonal modeling of the faces and the elegant fall of the drapery, with richly tooled gold haloes.