St Augustine Arriving in Carthage

In the age of humanism the view of St Augustine changed. Augustine combined classical scholarship and an admiration for Plato and the art of rhetoric with the eager faith of early Christianity. This new humanist image of St Augustine begins to be apparent both in miniature painting and in wall cycles at the end of the fourteenth century. One of the cycles that clearly documents this changing view of the saint is the one by Ottaviano Nelli in the choir apse at Sant’Agostino in Gubbio. This cycle of the story of Augustine’s life is extensive and detailed with twenty-five scenes.

The picture shows one of the scenes depicting St Augustine Arriving in Carthage.