Saint Jude Thaddaeus

Theodoric of Prague's Saint Jude Thaddaeus, dating to around 1357, is among the earliest panels in the monumental cycle for the Chapel of the Holy Cross at Karlštejn Castle. This painting belongs to the series of apostle and saint portraits that Emperor Charles IV commissioned to transform the castle chapel into a sacred treasury housing imperial relics. Theodoric's depiction of the apostle Jude, patron of desperate causes, exemplifies the Bohemian court style that was among the most innovative artistic movements in fourteenth-century Europe.

Tempera on panel with Theodoric's characteristically bold, plastic modelling that gives the half-length saint an almost three-dimensional presence. The broad, naturalistic facial features and heavy drapery folds contrast markedly with the more refined, linear treatment favoured by Italian and French Gothic masters.