Marco Zoppo, 'A Bishop Saint, perhaps Saint Augustine', probably about 1468

This contemplative saint wears a bishop’s hat called a mitre, and carries a crozier (based on a shepherd’s crook) part of the official dress of bishops – it was a symbol of their authority to guide and lead a ‘flock’ of Christians. He has been identified as Saint Augustine, the influential theologian and philosopher who was Bishop of Hippo (in north Africa) in the fourth century.

Zoppo has taken care to show variations in the texture and colour of the saint’s hair, from the dark, shiny curls on his head to his lighter, wispier beard. The folds of the draperies are so soft and light that they appear to be made of a very fine weight silk; bishop’s robes would actually have been made from thick textiles, in reality appearing far more rigid. This effect is enhanced by the use of pastel colours: the cope (cloak) is a dusky grape colour while the book is a pale sky blue. Even the patterns are subtle – the white fabric of the mitre, for example, is decorated with a barely visible motif in silver-grey, evoking the effect of a woven silk damask. This overall delicacy, which extends to the saint’s calm concentration, was typical of Zoppo’s painting.

The panel formed the uppermost part of an altarpiece made of many panels (a polyptych), and as it would have been viewed from below it makes sense that we can see the underside of the book. It was probably from the altarpiece described in 1581 in the church of Santa Giustina, Venice, signed by Zoppo and dated 1468. The saint’s identification as Augustine is based partly on the fact that Santa Giustina had been an Augustinian church since 1448. Three other panels from the same altarpiece have been identified: Saint Peter (National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.), Saint Paul (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford) and Saint Jerome (Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore).