Saint Paul and a Group of Worshippers

The work is dated to 1333, and is attributed to Bernardo Daddi. Its early provenance is uncertain: earlier claims that it came from the Florentine monastery of San Felice in Piazza lack documented evidence, while a later hypothesis, based on an old photograph annotation, suggests a possible origin at the Ospedale di San Paolo or the church of San Paolino in Florence. The known ownership chain begins with Elia Volpi (1858–1938) of Florence by the early 1900s.

Volpi sold it through the American Art Galleries, New York, in November 1916. It was then held by Bourgeois Galleries, New York, before being purchased by Duveen Brothers, Inc. in January 1920. Duveen sold it on 15 December 1936 to The A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh, which gifted it to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, in 1937. No specific commission is documented in the sources.

The painting is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., as part of the Andrew W. Mellon Collection. It entered the museum in 1937 as a gift from The A. W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust. No accession number is specified in the sources, and exhibition history is not recorded in the available documentation.

Bernardo Daddi's Saint Paul and a Group of Worshippers, painted in tempera on panel in 1333, presents the imposing figure of Saint Paul towering over a kneeling assembly of twelve supplicants. The painting's narrow, elongated format, confirmed by a Latin inscription on its lower frame, suggests its original placement within a specific architectural context. This work exemplifies Daddi's distinctive approach to devotional imagery, blending traditional elements with his refined artistic sensibility.

Daddi deliberately incorporated archaizing elements into this 1333 work, diverging from more current Florentine trends. The halo features hand-incised patterns rather than the fashionable punched designs of the era, and the rigid posture of the saint, along with the pointed arch, recalls 13th-century artistic conventions. Despite these conservative choices, Daddi's characteristic lyrical style is evident in the soft, flowing drapery of Paul's mantle and the subtly rendered faces of the kneeling figures.

The panel's distinctive tall and slender proportions indicate it was designed to be positioned against a church pillar, likely within the Florentine church of San Paolino, where Daddi was known to have worked. The twelve worshippers depicted suggest the painting was commissioned by a lay confraternity, possibly the Compagnia di San Paolo, as a focal point for their communal prayer and veneration.