Heiliger Bartholomäus und Simon

The earliest Italian painting in the Lehman Collection, this panel belonged to one of the greatest Italian altarpieces of its time. The double-sided altarpiece was probably commissioned for the main altar of the church of San Francesco al Prato in Perugia, where it was displayed above an early Christian sarcophagus containing the body of Saint Francis's follower the Beato Egidio (ca. 1261). The painted arches and the disposition of the figures in the altarpiece panels echo the sculpted reliefs of the sarcophagus. The Master of Saint Francis was also responsible for another significant Franciscan commission: a fresco cycle in the nave of the Lower Church of San Francesco at Assisi.