Saint Bernardino Appearing After His Death and Freeing a Prisoner

Saint Bernardino of Siena appears after his death to free a prisoner in this early panel from 1473 at the National Gallery of Umbria in Perugia. The miraculous narrative—part of the campaign for Bernardino"s canonization—shows the Franciscan preacher intervening from beyond the grave to demonstrate his sanctity. Pinturicchio painted this at approximately nineteen years of age, making it an important document of his artistic formation. Pinturicchio — Bernardino di Betto — was the master of decorative fresco in late fifteenth-century Rome, executing major commissions for Pope Innocent VIII in the Belvedere, Pope Alexander VI in the Borgia Apartments, and Pope Pius III in the Piccolomini Library in Siena.

The early narrative panel shows the young Pinturicchio working in a style heavily influenced by the Umbrian tradition of Benedetto Bonfigli and the early Perugino. The architectural setting creates a stage for the miracle, with the prison rendered in careful perspective. The figures show the somewhat stiff poses of an artist still developing his mature manner. The palette is already bright and decorative, suggesting the direction Pinturicchio"s style would take.