Artwork
san bartolomeo
san bartolomeo is an unspecified painting by Bartolomeo Bulgarini. It is held in the collection of the Capitoline Museums.
About this work
Overview
San Bartolomeo is a panel painting by the Sienese artist Bartolomeo Bulgarin, dating from the mid‑fourteenth century. Executed in tempera on wood, the work is part of the collection of the Capitoline Museums in Rome and presents the saint in a gold‑leaf background framed by an ornamental arch.
Subject & Meaning
The figure is Saint Bartholomew, identified by his scholarly attire and the objects he holds—a red book and a feather quill—symbols of learning and martyrdom. The saint’s dark, curly hair and beard follow conventional medieval iconography, emphasizing his role as a learned apostle.
Technique & Style
Bulgarin employs the Sienese tradition of bright, saturated pigments and a flat gold ground, while modeling the saint’s features with subtle gradations of light that suggest three‑dimensional form. The composition balances the central figure against the gilded backdrop, creating a sense of depth without abandoning the decorative flatness typical of Trecento painting.
History & Provenance
Active before and after the 1348 Black Death, Bulgarin’s career spanned a period of social upheaval in Siena. The painting entered the Capitoline Museums in the nineteenth century, and scholarly interest in Bulgarin resurfaced in 2021 when a small inset in a Botticelli work was attributed to him, prompting renewed study of his oeuvre.
Context
San Bartolomeo reflects the devotional practices of 14th‑century Siena, where saints were venerated as intercessors and exemplars of piety. The use of gold and rich colors aligns the work with the city’s preference for luminous, ornamental religious images intended for private contemplation or chapel altars.
Artist & collection
Artist
Bartolomeo Bulgarini (c. 1300/1310–1378), also known as Bulgarino or Bologhini, was an Italian painter of the Trecento in Siena, active both before and after the Black Death of 1348. Bulgarini's name came into popular…
![Annunciate Angel, the Apostle Andrew, a Bishop Saint (Savinus?), and Saints Dominic and Francis of Assisi [left]; Virgin Annunciate and Saints Bartholomew, Lawrence, Lucy, and Agatha [right], by Bartolomeo Bulgarini](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/bartolomeo-bulgarini--annunciate-angel-the-apostle-andrew-a-bishop-saint-savinus-a--941c87c7443f3f1e-w320.webp)
