Sandro Botticelli: Saint Augustine in His Studio (1480)

(Church of San Salvatore in Ognissanti, Florence, Italy)

A fresco by the Italian master Sandro Botticelli (1445 – 1510). This fresco, the first major fresco Botticelli did, shows saint Augustine of Hippo (A.D. 354 – 430). Augustine was the bishop of Hippo Regius (modern Annaba, in Algeria) who was also an important Christian theologian and philosopher. His most important books are The City of God and Confessions and for his contributions Augustine is regarded as one of the Church Fathers of Western Christianity. The painting shows the saint in meditation inside his study. The Coat of Arms in the upper part is that of the Vespucci family; it has been supposed that the picture was commissioned by the famous Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci's father. Fresco from 1480.