Giovanni di Paolo
St. Ambrose

1465-70
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Lehman Collection, 1975.1.30

The mitre on his head and the white pallium around his shoulders identify Ambrose as a prelate. He was bishop of Milan in the 4th century, the capital at that time of the western empire. The whip is his attribute, a reminder of his chastening the Emperor Theodosius. Its three cords symbolize the doctrine of the Trinity that the bishop defended against Arianism.

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