Saint Bernardino Preaching

Francesco di Giorgio's painting of Saint Bernardino Preaching, created around 1462 and now in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, depicts the Sienese Franciscan reformer who electrified crowds across Italy with his fiery sermons. Bernardino of Siena, canonized in 1450 just six years after his death, was the city's most beloved modern saint, and Sienese artists produced numerous images of his public preaching that captured the charismatic energy of his oratory.

Francesco di Giorgio depicts the preaching scene with careful attention to the architectural setting and the crowd of listeners, in a composition that balances the narrative demands of the subject with the elegant linearity of the Sienese school.