Skip to main content

Nardo di Cione, 'Three Saints', about 1363-5

About the work

Overview

Saint John the Baptist – who, according to the Bible, wandered the desert preaching about Jesus – is shown in the centre of this panel. He carries a scroll with his declaration of the coming of Christ: ‘I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Prepare the way of the Lord’. He stands between Saint John the Evangelist and Saint James, who clutches a pilgrim’s staff. Nardo has contrasted the saints‘ simplicity with the lavish textile – dotted with carnations, vine tendrils and birds – on which they stand.

The picture was made for a ’hospital church' in Florence – that is, a church connected to a hospital – dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. The hospital was, in this case, run by the Knights Hospitaller, a religious order with a military function and a tradition of caring for the sick. They were also known as the Knights of Saint John after their patron saint.

Key facts

Details

Full title
Saint John the Baptist, Saint John the Evangelist (?) and Saint James
Artist dates
documented 1343-6; died 1365-6
Date made
about 1363-5
Medium and support
egg tempera on wood
Dimensions
159.5 × 148 cm
Inscription summary
Inscribed
Acquisition credit
Bought, 1857
Inventory number
NG581
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection
Frame
21st-century Replica Frame

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

Images