Manuscript Leaf with the Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew, from a Laudario
ca. 1340
Medium
Tempera, gold, and ink on parchment
Dimensions
Overall: 18 1/2 x 13 3/4 in. (47 x 35 cm) Mat size: 27 7/8 x 22 in. (70.8 x 55.9 cm) Illumination: 6 15/16 x 8 1/16 in. (17.7 x 20.5 cm)
Classification
Manuscripts and Illuminations
Culture
Italian
Department
The Cloisters
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Cloisters Collection, 2006
Accession Number
2006.250
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite manuscript leaf, created by the Florentine artist Pacino di Bonaguida around1340, comes from a *laudario*—a devotional songbook used by lay religious confraternities in 14th-century Italy for lauds, poetic praises of the Virgin Mary and saints. Titled *Manuscript Leaf with the Martdom of Saint Bartholomew*, captures the dramatic moment of the saint's gruesome execution: flaying alive, a common motif in medieval hagiography symbolizing spiritual purification. Pacino, a master of both panel painting and illumination influenced by Giotto's naturalism, populates the scene with angui...