Francesco Standinger

Francesco Standinger painted saints who looked like his neighbors in 1870s Bucharest. He dressed them in the same clothes he saw on the street, then slipped in a golden halo so the everyday felt sacred. If you stand in front of his 1871 *Maica Domnului împărătească cerească* at the National Museum of Art of Romania, you’ll notice the Virgin’s face has the same tired eyes as the baker down the lane. Try the same trick on his *Evanghelistul Ioan*—the apostle’s beard is actually the painter’s own beard in disguise.