Saint Adalbert

Jacob Cornelisz van Oostsanen painted this Saint Adalbert around 1515, depicting the missionary bishop who preached Christianity in the northern Netherlands and was martyred by Frisians. Adalbert was a locally important saint in the Holland region. Saint panels were fundamental units of Renaissance altarpiece production, produced individually or as wings of polyptychs, and served the devotional needs of the commissioning church, guild, or confraternity whose patron saint they depicted.

The panel shows Jacob Cornelisz's characteristic warm palette and detailed rendering of episcopal vestments in his mature Amsterdam devotional style.