Retablo del cardenal de Portugal

James of Portugal was a prince and a cardinal who died in Florence in 1459, still in exile and only 26 years old. His family and the city built him a funerary chapel in the church of San Miniato al Monte, up on the hill above the city, and around 1466 the brothers Antonio and Piero del Pollaiuolo painted its altarpiece. The three saints they chose are personal to him: Vincent, patron of his home city Lisbon; James, his name-saint; and Eustace, tied to one of his churches. The Pollaiuolo workshop was better known for goldsmithing and bronze, and you can feel it in the crisp metallic edges of the armour and the drapery. The panel you would see in the chapel today is a copy. The original hangs in the Uffizi.