Artwork
Christ and the Twelve Apostles
Christ and the Twelve Apostles is a tempera painting by the Byzantine icon painting artist Taddeo di Bartolo. It dates from 1400 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The visual focus remains on the human forms of the religious leaders, rendered in the early 15th-century style associated with Taddeo di Bartolo.
The artwork depicts Christ standing centrally among the Twelve Apostles, forming a traditional religious composition centered on the figure of Jesus and his immediate disciples. Created as a panel painting in tempera, the work classifies within the genre of religious art. The iconography presents a gathering of men arranged to emphasize their spiritual connection and hierarchy.
The visual focus remains on the human forms of the religious leaders, rendered in the early 15th-century style associated with Taddeo di Bartolo.
Technique & Style
The work is executed in tempera on a wooden panel, a technique typical of early fifteenth-century Italian devotional paintings. The piece dates to 1400 and depicts Christ flanked by the twelve apostles in a hierarchical arrangement common in contemporary Tuscan religious imagery. The elongated horizontal format, 24.4 centimetres in height and 185.7 centimetres in width, suggests the panel may have functioned as a predella or similarly extended devotional support. No specific conservation issues are noted in the available documentation.
History & Provenance
Christ and the Twelve Apostles is a tempera-on-panel painting executed by the Italian artist Taddeo di Bartolo in 1400. The work depicts Christ surrounded by the apostles and measures 24.4 centimetres in height and 185.7 centimetres in width. The artwork is currently held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it remains part of the museum's holdings of religious art from the early Renaissance period. The circumstances of its original commission and early ownership history are not documented in available records.
Overview
Taddeo di Bartolo, an Italian painter associated with the Sienese School, created Christ and the Twelve Apostles around 1400. This tempera painting presents a formal depiction of Christ centrally positioned among his twelve disciples. The work is now part of the collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, representing an example of early Renaissance religious art.
Artist & collection
Artist
Taddeo di Bartolo (c. 1363 – 26 August 1422), also known as Taddeo Bartoli, was an Italian painter of the Sienese School during the early Renaissance. His biography appears in the Vite of Giorgio Vasari, who claims that…
Five apostles
Triptych: Bust of Christ, Saint John the Baptist and Saint Peter. Closed: Saint John the Evangelist and Saint Colombe
Christ Blessing
Saints Matthew and James the Less
Standing Saint and Saint in Red Cloak (pair)
Saints Augustine and Peter (left panel)
Saint in Red Cloak
Christ Blessing![Saint James Major [right panel], by Grifo di Tancredi](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/grifo-di-tancredi--saint-james-major-right-panel--dc190378c0cddc8f-w320.webp)
Saint James Major [right panel]
The Last Supper (Lorenzo Monaco, 1389 - 1390)
