Saint Nicholas of Bari

Andrea di Giusto, a Florentine painter who trained in the workshop of Lorenzo Monaco and later collaborated with Masaccio, created this image of Saint Nicholas of Bari for a Gothic polyptych around 1365. Saint Nicholas was one of the most universally venerated saints in medieval Christendom, patron of sailors, children, and numerous cities. This panel likely formed part of a multi-panel altarpiece where individual saints flanked a central Madonna and Child.

Painted in egg tempera on gold-ground panel, the single saint figure is rendered with the crisp outlines and flat decorative patterning characteristic of the late Florentine Gothic tradition. The bishop's vestments are depicted with careful attention to liturgical detail, including the mitre and crozier.