Saint Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas, the Dominican theologian whose Summa Theologiae systematized medieval Catholic doctrine, was canonized in 1323 and by the fifteenth century was one of the most widely represented scholar-saints in Italian art. Crivelli's 1476 version, made for a Dominican patron in the Marche, renders Aquinas with the full visual program of Dominican iconography: the black-and-white habit, the star on his chest (an attribute given him after a celestial vision), and the heavy theological tomes that signify his intellectual authority. Crivelli's physical characterization — heavy, broad-faced, serious — follows the established iconographic type.

The contrast between the Dominican habit's black and white and the gold background is exploited by Crivelli for maximum decorative effect. The book is rendered with his usual extraordinary finish — its clasps and tooled leather cover described with miniaturist precision. The star on Aquinas's chest is embossed in gold, combining painterly and sculptural techniques.