San Luis de Tolosa coronando a Roberto de Anjou

This altarpiece from about 1317 is really a piece of political argument. Robert of Anjou ruled Naples, but his claim was shaky: the crown should have passed to his older brother Louis, who had given it up to become a Franciscan friar. When Louis was made a saint in 1317, Robert commissioned Simone Martini to paint him being crowned by that sainted brother, royal power handed down in gold with the Church's blessing. Look at Robert kneeling in profile at the saint's knee. That figure is often called the first true portrait of a living person in Italian painting. Along the bottom a row of small scenes tells the story of Louis's short life and his miracles.