St Margaret

Ortolano painted this Saint Margaret around 1515, depicting the early Christian martyr with her characteristic attribute of the dragon she is said to have overcome. Working in Ferrara as one of the painters in the Este court's orbit, Ortolano (Giovanni Battista Benvenuti) developed a devotional style that combined the warm Venetian colorism absorbed through contact with Titian's innovations with the more precise figure construction of the Ferrarese tradition. Saint Margaret of Antioch—one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers and patron of pregnant women and childbirth—was a popular subject in devotional painting, her dragon attribute providing both iconic visual identification and the opportunity to depict dramatic action within the conventional saint portrait format. The dragon's defeat symbolized the triumph of Christian faith over pagan temptation.

The panel shows Ortolano's competent Ferrarese technique with the warm palette and balanced composition characteristic of Ferrara's Raphaelesque generation.