The Prophet Isaiah

Bernardino Butinone painted this Prophet Isaiah around 1480 in Lombardy. Active in Milan and its surroundings, Butinone developed a distinctive angular style influenced by Mantegna and the Paduan school. Prophet figures typically appeared in the upper registers of altarpieces, establishing Old Testament connections to the New Testament scenes below. This work belongs to the Early Renaissance, the transformative period in European art when painters first applied mathematical perspective, naturalistic figure modeling, and archaeological interest in antiquity to the inherited traditions of medieval devotional painting.

Tempera on panel with Butinone's characteristic angular figure drawing derived from the Paduan school. The prophet's scroll and dramatic pose reflect the monumental treatment expected for prophetic figures.