Saint Luke

This depiction of Saint Luke by the Master of the Magdalen, dating to around 1300 and now in the Uffizi Gallery, was painted by one of the leading Florentine artists of the late duecento, named for his altarpiece of the Magdalen in the Galleria dell'Accademia. Active in the decades just before Giotto's revolutionary innovations transformed Florentine painting, the Master of the Magdalen represents the accomplished but conservative Byzantine-influenced tradition that Giotto would soon supplant. Saint Luke, patron saint of painters according to medieval legend, held special significance for artist guilds and confraternities.

Executed in egg tempera on gold-ground panel, the work displays the Master of the Magdalen's characteristic blend of Byzantine iconic formality with touches of Gothic expressiveness. The strong linear contours, flat gold background, and frontal presentation of the saint exemplify the late duecento Florentine style on the cusp of its transformation.