Saint Nicholas of Bari1472 · Study 1952.111

Context from the museum

Saint Nicolas of Bari, patron saint of children, sailors, and travelers, and the prototype of Father Christmas, was bishop of Myra (Lycia) in Asia Minor during the AD 300s. His remains were said to have been taken to Bari in Italy during the 11th century. The saint is shown vested as bishop in an elaborately embroidered cope, fastened with a morse, and holding a crosier. By the mid-1400s, most Florentine artists had stopped using gold backgrounds in their pictures, preferring instead naturalistic backgrounds of landscapes and blue skies. However, elsewhere in Italy gold-ground painting remained popular, as in this painting by Crivelli, a a painter of conservative Late Gothic decorative sensibility, who spent his early years in the Veneto where he absorbed influences from the Vivarini, Squarcione, and Mantegna. By 1458 he left the Veneto and was never to return; he spent most of the remainder of his career in the March of Ancona, where he developed a distinctive personal style that makes a contrast to his Venetian contemporary Giovanni Bellini.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected unframed measurement for Saint Nicholas of Bari is 32 cm wide and 96.2 cm high, equivalent to approximately 12.6 × 37.9 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 0.33:1. The rectangular bounding area is 0.31 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 10.7% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 134.0 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With Saint Nicholas of Bari in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, Tempera and gold leaf on wood panel, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this vertical composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 32 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?