St Benedict (wing of a polyptych)

Spinello Aretino's Saint Benedict, a wing panel from a polyptych dating to around 1383, depicts the founder of Western monasticism in the hieratic format typical of Gothic altarpiece lateral panels. Spinello was among the most productive and widely travelled painters of the late Trecento, active across Arezzo, Florence, Siena, and Pisa, and his workshop supplied altarpieces to churches and monasteries throughout Tuscany. The presence of this panel in the Hermitage Museum reflects the broad dispersal of Italian Gothic altarpieces across European collections in the modern era.

Egg tempera on gold-ground panel with Spinello's characteristic vigorous draughtsmanship and strong chromatic contrasts. The figure of Benedict is rendered with firm modelling and clearly articulated Benedictine vestments against a tooled gold background.