European Painting before 1900, Johnson Collection

Predella panel showing Saints Margaret and Bartholomew

Predella panel from the Saint Ursula altarpiece from San Pablo, Palencia; companion to John G. Johnson Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art (Cat. 260) and panels in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight Village, England (LL3426

c. 1450

Jaume Mateu, Spanish, documented 1403 - 1452

Tempera and tooled gold on panel
16 x 33 inches (40.6 x 83.8 cm)

* Gallery 211, European Art 1100-1500, second floor

Cat. 261

Label

This panel came from a large altarpiece, called a retablo in Spanish, in the church of San Pablo in Palencia. It was originally part of the predella, or lower panel, of the retablo.

These two saints are part of a set of four saints who are early Christian martyrs, but they are presented in the guise of contemporary aristocrats. Only their attributes— the dragon for Margaret, and the knife for Bartholomew—identify them as these early martyrs.