Decide which details support a name and which describe the scene as a whole.
7 minPractice
Saints Andrew and ThomasGian Lorenzo Bernini · National Gallery, London, NG6381
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Reading
A pair of portraits
Imagine two panels from one altarpiece. Both men face inward and wear similar cloaks. On one panel a hand closes around two small objects with toothed ends. On the other, two wooden diagonals rise behind a shoulder. Sketch the objects before supplying names.
Read the exception
Open Bernini’s double portrait in the sources. The two saints are Andrew and Thomas. Look for the fish near Andrew and the set square held by Thomas. This time neither a figure count of two nor the presence of Andrew is enough to make his companion Peter.
Checkpoint takeaway
A pair of painted saints need not be a pair of brothers.
Visual study
Plate 01Saints Andrew and Thomas
Bernini places the fish with Andrew and the set square in Thomas’s hand.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini · National Gallery, London, NG6381
Plate 02Saint Andrew
Andrew stands against a landscape with long, diagonally crossing timbers behind him.