Bas-relief depicting an apostle – Italy 15th century

This Istrian stone bas-relief depicts a full-length apostle with a halo, sheltered under an architecture with twisted columns. The work is part of the oeuvre of Venetian sculptor Gherardo di Mainardo, active between 1404 and 1422, known in particular for the Relief Altarpiece with Saints Peter, Paul, and John the Baptist (1408, The Metropolitan Museum of Art) and for several funerary monuments commissioned by the Venetian aristocracy, including those of the dogaressa Agnese da Mosto, Petronilla de Tocco, and Orsola Venier.

The apostle, represented by the closed book he holds in his left hand and the gesture of blessing with his right, stands in a frontal, stable pose, imbued with calm authority. The face, framed by a short, curly beard, is sculpted with realistic attention and psychological depth that directly recalls the central figure of the Relief Altarpiece of 1408. In both works, the powerful modeling of the face, the fleshy treatment of the hands, and the arrangement of the drapery reveal the same hand, or at least the same plastic conception. The folds of the garment, broad and rhythmic, wrap themselves in supple volumes around the body, creating an alternation of light planes and deep shadows that animate the surface of the stone.

The architecture surrounding the saint plays an integral part in the scene: two twisted columns with foliated capitals support an entablature decorated with geometric motifs. The frieze continues between the two columns and also extends along the left edge, suggesting that the block was intended to be inserted into the front or side of the tomb. At the back and on the right side, the presence of notches indicates that it was part of a larger architectural ensemble.

This architectural device, common in Venetian sculpture at the turn of the 15th century, gives the figure a serene monumentality and places it in a symbolic sacred space, halfway between a niche and an altarpiece. It reflects the legacy of the Dalle Masegne workshop, to which Gherardo di Mainardo seems to have been closely linked, both in terms of architectural rigor and the desire to arrange the figures according to a logic of symmetry and spiritual hierarchy.

The funerary monuments of Dogaressa Agnese da Mosto, Petronilla de Tocco, and Orsola Venier in Venice, to which Gherardo di Mainardo is believed to have contributed, bear witness to this concept. The saints, carved in stone, become the eternal protectors of the noble souls they surround. The verticality of the saint in this bas-relief, his frontal position, and the strength of his gaze seem to continue this tradition: he stands as a guardian of virtue and memory.

This work also reflects the devotional materiality characteristic of late medieval sculpture: the stone, polished and slightly weathered, gives the figure an embodied, almost tangible presence. In the tradition of early Renaissance Venetian reliefs, the saint is not only an iconographic motif, but a personification of heavenly virtues, a moral model offered for contemplation. This moral and spiritual role of the relief is echoed in contemporary monumental tombs, where saints and virtues, arranged in niches or leaning against columns, framed the sarcophagus and symbolically celebrated the merits of the deceased.

With its balance between Gothic solemnity and all’antica construction, this work perfectly embodies the transitional period that Venetian sculpture was undergoing at the beginning of the 15th century. The taste for symmetry and architectural order heralds the Renaissance, while the intense spirituality of the face and the softness of the modeling still recall Gothic fervor.