St. Martin Cutting His Cloak

This scene of Saint Martin cutting his cloak to share with a beggar by the Master of the Rebel Angels, painted around 1340, depicts one of the most beloved episodes in medieval hagiography. The Master of the Rebel Angels, named after a painting in the Louvre, was an accomplished Sienese painter whose elegant style reflects the influence of both Pietro Lorenzetti and Simone Martini. Now at the Louvre, this panel would have formed part of a narrative altarpiece or predella celebrating the life of Saint Martin, patron saint of soldiers and the poor.

Executed in tempera and gold on panel, the painting combines narrative clarity with the decorative elegance typical of mid-Trecento Sienese painting. The Master's refined draftsmanship and attention to courtly costume details reflect the sophisticated visual culture of fourteenth-century Siena.