A Bishop Saint
c. 1480
Medium
Oil on panel
Dimensions
49 × 27.7 cm (19 5/16 × 10 15/16 in.); Framed: 54.7 × 32.4 × 5.1 cm (21 1/2 × 12 3/4 × 2 in.)
Classification
oil on panel
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
60514
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Bartolomé Bermejo likely learned his meticulous oil-painting technique by studying Netherlandish works imported into his native Spain. Colored pigments become translucent when mixed with oil, necessitating many thin layers to be built up that result in rich colors, like the green jacquard lining this saint’s vestments, and radiant light effects, as seen in his jewel-encrusted miter. This captivating realism went hand in hand with a strategy in Netherlandish art called disguised symbolism, which ...