Polyptych in Santo Spirito (Bergamo), detail 1507

This detail is from the Polyptych in Santo Spirito (Bergamo), painted by Ambrogio Bergognone, sometime before 1523. Bergognone worked during the Renaissance, a period of cultural rebirth, but one still deeply shaped by religious belief. This image depicts Saint Bernardino of Siena, a 15th-century Franciscan friar and preacher. Bernardino was known for his devotion and promotion of the Holy Name of Jesus. Here he is shown kneeling with an angel. The red rays connecting the angel to the saint suggest a divine connection, perhaps representing grace or inspiration. Bernardino’s clothing signals poverty and humility, virtues highly esteemed in his time. The Polyptych was commissioned for a church, a place where the lives of saints were presented as models for worshippers. Bernardino’s story, captured here, thus served as a reminder of faith, piety, and the potential for divine grace in an earthly existence.