Saint Bernardino of Siena Between Two Angels
Andrea Mantegna·1469
Historical Context
Andrea Mantegna's Saint Bernardino of Siena Between Two Angels, painted around 1469 and now in the Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, depicts the Franciscan preacher canonized in 1450, just nineteen years before this painting. Bernardino was one of the most powerful preachers in 15th-century Italy, famous for promoting devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus. Mantegna's treatment gives the recently canonized saint the monumental dignity of an ancient classical figure.
Technical Analysis
Mantegna renders the saint with characteristic sculptural precision, using stone-like modeling and crisp contours that make the figure appear almost like a painted relief, flanked by symmetrically composed angels.
