Saint John the Evangelist

Segna di Buonaventura

ca. 1320 · Tempera on wood, gold ground · European Paintings

This is the best-preserved panel of a signed altarpiece by Segna of which three other panels are also in The Met. Although Segna’s art is dependent on the work of Duccio, his figures have a regal, hieratic formality. His ascetic, harshly featured saints consciously evoke a more archaic art, and he notably retained the Byzantine use of gold striations on draperies—emblematic of the sacred world of icons. For more information about this painting, including a reconstruction of the altarpiece, visit metmuseum.org.

Artist

Segna di Buonaventura

Date

ca. 1320

Medium

Tempera on wood, gold ground

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

Gift of George Blumenthal, 1941