Paolo Veneziano was the most prominent artist in Venice during the fourteenth century, running a thriving workshop that arguably laid the foundations of the Venetian school of painting in successive centuries. With his roots in the Byzantine tradition, he created a new idiom that would earn commissions from his native city and beyond. This fine panel, executed by an associate in the workshop, shows similarities to Lorenzo Veneziano’s work, particularly in the treatment of the hair; see for example the Saint Paul, given to Lorenzo, sold Sotheby’s, Milan, 20 May 2008, lot 13. A panel, sold in these Rooms 27 November 1970, lot 66, showing an apostle facing in the opposite direction, features the same punchwork, shaped top and dimensions as the present panel, indicating that both works certainly belonged to the same, as yet unidentified, polyptych.