Matteo di Giovanni
The Apostle Bartholomew
About 1480
Tempera on wood, 80.5
x 48 cm
Museum of Fine Arts,
Budapest
"Beginning with the
14th
century, many of the portrayals of the saint show him as holding his
own
flayed skin. Matteo di Giovanni, however, was not content with
the
type of representation customary in Tuscany, holding his skin in hand
but
smartly dressed. He preferred to follow an old Umbrian
iconographic
tradition and to portray the already flayed Apostle as an athletic nude
wearing his skin elegantly as a stole over his shoulder.
"The painting was
earlier
attributed to Antonio del Pollaiolo."
--
Web Gallery
of Art (source of photo)
More of St.
Bartholomew