Pacino di Bonaguida
The Martyrdom of St. Bartholomew

Circa 1340
Leaf from a laudario
Tempera, gold, and ink on parchment, 6 5/16 x 8 1/16 in. (17.7 x 20.5 cm.)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cloisters Collection, 2006.250

The left side of the main image shows him being flayed while chained to the gate of a city. The gate is not in the Golden Legend, nor any of the accounts collected in the Acta Sanctorum.

The right side follows the tradition that Bartholomew died by beheading – in this case, while wearing his flayed skin as a kind of cloak.

The roundel upper left corresponds to the Legend's "Then the Christians took away the body and buried it honourably." The other roundel shows him preaching to King Polemius and his court.

The Italian in the lower half is Appostolo beato de Gesucristo amato Bartholomeo te laudiam di bon core, "O Blessed Apostle Bartholomew, beloved of Jesus Christ, I shall praise you with full heart."

Detail of the martyrdom panels:
Detail of the burial:


Detail of Bartholomew preaching:


Read more about images of St. Bartholomew.

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art