Portrait of a Young Man Holding a Roundel (detail)

One of this picture’s most fascinating elements is the round, gold ground panel proudly held in the hands of the dashing young man - an older work of art set into the new. It is by Bartolomeo Bulgarini, a fourteenth century Sienese artist whose refined technique reveals the influence of Duccio, Ugolino di Nerio and Pietro Lorenzetti. The grain of the wood and the truncated punchwork of the background confirm it as a fragment - one not always round in shape, but rather cut out of a larger, vertical panel. The saint is depicted half-length with a long grey beard, balding head and wearing a grey mantle atop an orange robe. Set against a gilded background, he is surrounded by a network of geometric punchwork. The saint lacks any identifiable iconographic attributes, and only his right hand is visible, raised in an apparent gesture of blessing.