Saint Justina of Padua

A fragment from an altarpiece, this picture shows the early Christian martyr Justina in the guise of an elegantly dressed contemporary of the artist, thereby overlapping conventions of devotional images and portraiture. By the 1490s it was not uncommon for a wealthy person to be depicted as their patron saint. While the palm branch and the sword piercing this figure’s breast are Saint Justina’s traditional attributes, she is also a carefully crafted ideal of aristocratic beauty, including her high forehead, a standard of attractiveness so popular that it was common for women to alter their hairlines. Guided by the influence of Giovanni Bellini, Montagna became the principal painter in Vicenza.