Saint Bartholomew

Saint Bartholomew, identified by the knife of his martyrdom and now in the Samuel H. Kress Collection, is a late work from 1517 painted when Perugino was in his late sixties. The Kress Foundation's systematic acquisition of Italian Renaissance paintings for American museums created one of the most significant collections of Umbrian and central Italian art outside Europe, and Perugino's works are well represented in this dispersal. The single-saint panel format — showing a martyr with his attribute against a neutral or landscape background — served the same devotional function as modern portrait photographs, providing a specific sacred intercessor for focused prayer. Despite his advanced age, the Bartholomew demonstrates Perugino's undiminished technical facility and the continuing demand for his art.

The single saint figure stands in the composed, balanced pose typical of Perugino's mature work. The knife attribute is rendered clearly for iconographic identification. Perugino's late handling maintains his characteristic smooth modeling and clear color, though the execution may show some of the looser quality of his final period.