Saint Paul and a Group of Worshippers

Bernardo Daddi painted this unusual composition of Saint Paul accompanied by a group of worshippers around 1333, blending hagiographic imagery with the emerging votive tradition of donor portraiture. As the leading Florentine panel painter after Giotto's death, Daddi synthesized his master's spatial innovations with a more intimate, decorative sensibility suited to smaller devotional works. The panel is now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Executed in egg tempera on panel with gold ground, the composition juxtaposes the monumental figure of Saint Paul with smaller-scale worshipping figures below, following medieval hierarchical proportion conventions. Daddi's refined brushwork and warm color palette demonstrate his characteristic blend of Giottesque solidity and Sienese decorative elegance.