Saint Matthew the Evangelist

On 15 July 1367 the money-changers' guild of Florence hired Andrea di Cione, whom everyone called Orcagna, to paint their patron saint, the apostle Matthew, who had once been a tax collector himself. It was meant for a pillar of Orsanmichele, the strange building that was grain market below and church above, where each guild kept an image of its saint. Orcagna ran one of the busiest workshops in the city, but partway through the work he fell ill. He died the following August, and his younger brother Jacopo di Cione finished the panel. Matthew stands holding his gospel and a quill, in a loose pink cloak lined with red over a pale blue tunic, and smaller scenes around him tell episodes from his life. It left Orsanmichele long ago and now hangs in the Uffizi.