Hl. Martin

Benvenuto Tisi da Garofalo, the leading painter of Ferrara in the early sixteenth century, depicted Saint Martin around 1518. After studying with Boccaccio Boccaccino and making formative trips to Rome where he encountered Raphael's work, Garofalo brought a Raphaelesque classicism to Ferrara that dominated the city's artistic production for decades. The tempera medium required careful preparation on a gessoed panel and a disciplined layering technique that produced precise, durable surfaces suited to the intricate detail expected of devotional painting.

The panel reflects Garofalo's fusion of Ferrarese decorative richness with the balanced compositions and idealized figure types he absorbed from Raphael's Roman frescoes.