Saints Bartholomew and Andrew

This picture was once part of a multi-panelled altarpiece with four tiers, made for the Florentine church of Santa Croce. It would have appeared in the third tier, above an image of the apostle Paul (now in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin) and beneath an image of David.This panel was originally on the left-hand side of the altarpiece: both saints look to their left, towards a central image of the Virgin and Child below. The third layer of the altarpiece sat just above the main tier, and consisted of six identically shaped panels each depicting two different apostles. Saints Peter and Paul were excluded, as they appeared in the position of honour on either side of the Virgin Mary. They were replaced by two female saints, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary and Saint Clare, who both belonged to the Franciscan Order. We have one more panel from this layer, showing Saints Thaddeus and Simon.The inscriptions that identify these figures as Saints Bartholomew and Andrew are very damaged. The two have very different features: Saint Bartholomew is shown as a young man with thick red hair and a beard, while Saint Andrew is shown as an older man with grey hair. Saint Bartholomew’s tunic is painted with an elaborate pattern, and brown leaf-like shapes are probably mordant (the sticky substance used to attach gold leaf to a panel). This means that these areas were originally gilded. The edges of both draperies were also most likely gilded.The band of decorative shapes, called quatrefoils, that runs beneath the panel is a modern imitation of those found on the other panels in this row.