Pietro di Francesco degli Orioli; St. Bernardino of Siena; after 1489; tempera grassa (oil) on panel; 15 in. x 7 1/8 in. (38.1 cm. x 18.1 cm.); This elegant panel depicting the Franciscan Saint Bernardino (1380-1444) served as part of the decoration of a large altarpiece; where it would have been accompanied by several other images of saints. Convincingly attributed to the late 15th-century Sienese painter; Orioli; it demonstrates many of the most characteristic features of Sienese art during this period; merging; as it does; advanced Renaissance concerns with linear perspective and corporeal plausibility with medievalizing qualities - for example; the gilded background and the slightly attenuated and ethereal representation of the saint.