Artwork
Saint Romuald
Saint Romuald is a tempera painting by the Italo Byzantine artist Guiduccio Palmerucci. It dates from 1325 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection.
The work portrays Saint Romuald, a 11th‑century Camaldolese founder, presented as a contemplative figure holding a book that signifies his role as a teacher and chronicler of monastic reform. His attributes of sanctity and missionary zeal are conveyed through the modest attire, the halo‑like aureole implied by his serene expression, and the inclusion of a staff in some depictions, though the primary visual cue is the open volume. Created in 1325 by Guiduccio Palmerucci, the tempera on panel piece belongs to the religious genre and was intended to reinforce the saint’s authority within the Church’s visual tradition. The painting is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection.
Technique & Style
Saint Romuald is executed in tempera on a wooden panel, a technique typical of early 14th‑century Italian religious painting. The work measures approximately 46 cm in height by 27.3 cm in width, as recorded in the Metropolitan Museum of Art catalogue. Its surface bears the flat, linear modeling and muted palette characteristic of tempera panels of the period, with the saint depicted holding a book, emphasizing his role as a founder of the Camaldolese order.
The painting’s composition is confined to a shallow spatial depth, reflecting the stylized medieval emphasis on symbolic clarity over naturalistic rendering. Documentation of its present condition is absent from the cited sources.
History & Provenance
The painting Saint Romuald by Guiduccio Palmerucci is dated to 1325, aligning with the artist’s mature period in central Italy. The work was commissioned for a religious context, likely a devotional setting, as suggested by its iconography and medium. By the late nineteenth century, the painting entered the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, where it remains housed today.
Its provenance prior to the museum’s acquisition is undocumented, but the panel’s dimensions (46 cm × 27.3 cm) and tempera technique are consistent with fourteenth-century Italian devotional works of this scale.
Guiduccio Palmerucci's tempera-on-panel painting, Saint Romuald, dated to 1325, is currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The work measures 46 cm in height and 27.3 cm in width. While the provided sources confirm its presence in the museum's holdings and its creation date, they do not disclose a specific inventory or accession number for the piece.
Additionally, the available documentation does not record any specific exhibition history for this artwork, limiting the historical record to its attribution, physical dimensions, and current institutional location.
Context
The painting Saint Romuald, executed in tempera on panel around 1325 by Guiduccio Palmerucci, exemplifies early fourteenth‑century Italian religious art. Its formal classification as a religious genre work and its depiction of the saint holding a book are documented in the corpus and in Wikidata entries. The work’s inclusion in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection underscores its significance within the artist’s oeuvre and illustrates how such devotional images are studied in art historical literature.
As a documented example of religious imagery from 1325, it provides a key reference point for understanding the production of panel paintings in medieval Italy.
Overview
Guiduccio Palmerucci's painting, Saint Romuald, created in 1325, is a religious work executed in tempera. This devotional image portrays the titular saint, identifiable by his attributes, within a formal composition typical of the early 14th century. It currently resides in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, offering insight into Italian painting traditions of the period.
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