Mantegna, Andrea (c.1431-1506)
San Bernardino da Siena e angeli (Saint Bernardine of Siena and Angels)
1469
Mixed media on canvas, 385 x 220 cm
Pinacoteca di Brera, Milano
This is Mantegna‘s first single-space altarpiece and may have been commissioned by Ludovico Gonzaga shortly after the canonization of the saint (in 1459) to whom the inscription on the architrave – HUIUS LINGUA SALUS HOMINUM (his tongue is the salvation of men) – celebrating his truly effective preaching alludes. Mantegna painted the picture with the help of an assistant but the design of the architecture, which probably matched the altarpiece’s original frame, is by the master’s own hand. (Brera)