Saint Bernardino of Siena Preaching

Giovanni di ser Giovanni Guidi, called Lo Scheggia, was a Florentine painter and craftsman, the younger brother of Masaccio. He is better known for decorative and domestic work than for large-scale religious altarpieces. His scene of Saint Bernardino of Siena preaching — if correctly attributed — would document the cult of the popular Franciscan saint who died in 1444 and was canonised in 1450, making preaching scenes of him a relevant devotional subject from the mid-fifteenth century onward. The c.1600 catalogue date may indicate a later copy of an original or a misattributed workshop piece.

A preaching scene typically arranges the saint elevated on a pulpit or outdoor platform with a crowd of listeners below. The composition would be organised around the figure of Bernardino holding his emblem — the IHS sunburst — with figures in varied postures of attentiveness or response.