Monk Saint [?] with a Model of a Church

Bartolomeo degli Erri's Monk Saint with a Model of a Church in the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya depicts the convention of patron saints identified by their founding of churches or religious orders, holding a model of their foundation as a sign of their role in the institutional church's history. Degli Erri, a Modenese painter active in the 1460s through 1490s, produced altarpiece panels for churches in the Este domain of Ferrara and Modena, working in a style indebted to Mantegna and the Ferrara court painters. The Catalan panel likely reached Barcelona through the Aragonese court's art collecting networks.

The monk saint stands in his habit, holding a detailed architectural model of a church. Degli Erri renders the miniature building with careful attention to its Gothic or Romanesque details. The figure occupies a simple architectural space, his habit's texture contrasted with the stone of the church model.