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Secondary sourcePainting1487

Saint Benedict: Left Wing

Hans Memling · 1487

A Flemish portrait-style panel by Hans Memling showing Benedict reading, made as part of a devotional diptych for a donor.

Depicts Benedict as the saint being venerated in this devotional panel, nearly a thousand years after his life.

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Painting of a bald, older man in a dark robe reading a small open book held in both hands. A golden crozier with a curled head stands at right, beside a landscape with trees and a clear sky. A small crucifixion picture hangs on the wall behind him. An inscription at the bottom reads Sanctus Benedictus.
Hans Memling, Saint Benedict: Left Wing, 1487. Uffizi Gallery.

About this source

What it is

This panel was painted by the Flemish artist Hans Memling in 1487. It shows Saint Benedict holding an open book, with a golden crozier and a small crucifixion scene behind him. It was made for a donor named Benedetto Portinari and is now held at the Uffizi Gallery.

Why it matters

The painting shows how, centuries after his death, Benedict was imagined in the style of the patron's own time and place, dressed and posed like a contemporary Flemish cleric rather than an ancient monk. It reveals how donors like Portinari used images of saints to express personal devotion.

Look closer

  • What objects in the painting tell you Benedict was a monastic founder?
  • Why might the artist have painted Benedict reading rather than preaching or teaching?
  • What does the choice of a donor's name on this painting tell you about why it was made?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Saint Benedict on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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