Once I Was A Clever Boy: St Matthew in medieval Florentine art

Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.

Tuesday, 21 September 2021

St Matthew in medieval Florentine art

Gregory DiPippo has an interesting account on the New Liturgicsl Movement website today for the Feast of St Matthew of two works of art commissioned by the guild of moneychangers of Florence to celebrate the saint, who was, of course, their patron.

The first is a triptych by Orcagna from 1367 and tells the story of St Matthew both in the Hodpels and in the Golden Legend, which recounts his evangelisation in Ethiopia. The second is the bronze statute which the Guild commissioned in 1419 from Ghiberti.

The illustrated article can be seen at The St Matthew Triptych by Orcagna