Saint Bernardino

In the pictureOn a gold ground, an old man in a brown habit stands holding an IHS tablet with a red border, and a garland woven of leaves and fruit circles around him. The garland is not painted but built up in gesso and then gilded, so its surface is raised. The picture is nearly square.

BackgroundThis technique, called pastiglia, builds up several layers of gesso to create something like relief, and 15th-century Sienese painters liked to use it for decorating frames and halos. Benvenuto di Giovanni was a Sienese painter of the generation after Sano di Pietro, and while painting the same saint he enclosed the image in a garland, turning the portrait into something like a commemorative plaque. It is an example of how Siena honored this saint.

Puzzle tipThe raised garland pieces have shadows, which sets them apart from the flat gold pieces. Fit the central figure and the IHS tablet first, lay the garland around in a circle, then fill in the remaining gold. Because it is square, you can start from any direction.