Saint Nicholas of Tolentino

Piero della Francesca's Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, painted around 1456 for the Museo Poldi Pezzoli, depicts the Augustinian friar canonized in 1446. Nicholas was one of the most popular saints of the late medieval period, and images of him proliferated following his official canonization Piero della Francesca brought mathematical precision and monumental stillness to his figures, creating some of the most geometrically pure compositions in all of Renaissance painting.

The saint is rendered in Piero's geometric style with clear, even lighting and crystalline color, the black Augustinian habit forming a stark geometric form against the luminous background.