St. Nicholas of Bari on the Bishop’s Throne

The aged and imposing St. Nicholas performs his two principal miracles while angels anoint him with the bishop’s miter. On the left, the three daughters of a financially ruined nobleman are saved from a life of prostitution by the charity of St. Nicholas, who gifts them three golden balls or purses. On the right, three unjustly condemned men are spared execution following the saint’s intervention.

This painting from ca. 1514–16 marks the beginning of Sabatini’s long collaboration with the ancient Benedictine monastery of Montecassino, which lasted until the artist’s death in 1530. This early work was accompanied by a pendant representing the Benedictine St. Bertharius, today in Montserrat, Spain. Visually, the St. Nicholas replicates the composition of Raphael’s Madonna delle pesce, then in the Neapolitan church of San Domenico Maggiore.