Saints Matthew and Francis

Saints Matthew and Francis from 1435 by Giovanni di Paolo at the Metropolitan Museum depicts two saints who embody different aspects of Christian devotion—the evangelist and the mystic. Giovanni di Paolo's distinctive, highly personal style makes him one of the most recognizable painters of the Sienese school. Characteristic of the artist's mature approach, the work displays brilliant, jewel-like color, gold grounds, lyrical figure types of Gothic grace, perspectival experiments that create strange compressed spaces, intense narrative invention.

The saints are rendered with Giovanni di Paolo's characteristic angular drawing and rich coloring, the gold ground and decorative detail reflecting the continuing vitality of the Sienese Gothic tradition.