Saint Bartholomew

This panel, together with the one depicting St. John the Baptist, belonged to the predella of a dismantled polyptych.
Today the four main compartments and the other panels of the predella are dispersed among several European and American museums: the panel representing the Madonna and Child is now exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Crivelli painted the polyptych for the Dominican church of Fermo during his stay in the Marche.
The drawing here is very incisive and the characterisation of the volumes is rendered in an almost caricatural way. During his stay in the Marche the painter developed a very personal style, using light as an analytical tool that blocks shapes, creating sharp and harsh profiles.