Master of the Riccardiana Lactantius, Saint Benedict Resuscitating a Boy in an Initial D

Florence, Second half of 15th century
Tempera, gold, and ink on parchment
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 96.32.11. Gift of Louis L. Lorillard.

This miracle of St. Benedict is recounted in chapter 32 of Gregory the Great's Dialogues Details from the story include the monastery gate, Benedict's arrival with the other monks, and the father asking help for his son. As always in high medieval representations, the saint and his monks are tonsured and have black habits with cowls. It is also common for Benedict's beard to be long, gray, and bifurcated.

Read more about images of St. Benedict.

Photographed at the museum by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.