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A Youthful Saint Reading

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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Notes

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This and A Saint with a Fortress and Banner, also in the National Gallery’s collection, are panels from an altarpiece. We do not know the church for which they were painted.

A Youthful Saint reading has previously been identified as John the Evangelist, who is frequently depicted as a young fair-haired man dressed in green and red reading the Gospel of John. However, this identification is not certain. He appears to be standing high on a parapet as the horizon is below the level of his waist, and he is set against a great expanse of sky. In the landscape of grassy hills and woodland, a small tower peeps through the trees and a weary traveller with a staff rests on his pack beside the road.

The contemplative mood of the painting and the grassy landscape, treatment of the drapery and rich colour palette are all reminiscent of the late style of Giovanni Bellini, with whom the artist may have worked as an assistant.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

A Youthful Saint Reading

Date

probably about 1512-25

Medium

Oil on poplar, transferred from another panel

Measurements

H 118.7 x W 47.6 cm

Accession number

NG632

Acquisition method

Bought, 1860

Work type

Painting

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The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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