Representing the Youthful Bishop: Juan de Borgoña’s Stubbly Saint Augustine

Caroline Paganussi, Ph.D.
AFC Postdoctoral Curatorial Fellow (2022-2023) is supported by a grant from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation Interpretive Fellowship program and by Michael and Nancy Vespoli.

In a small panel of Saint Augustine in the Capodimonte Museum (c. 1510), painted by the Burgundian or Provençal-born Spanish artist, Juan de Borgoña (d. c. 1538), the eminent Church Father is missing his characteristic flowing beard, a curious omission given that Augustine wrote about facial hair as a signifier of courage and maturity (Psalm 133). Instead, the saint bears an unmistakable five o’clock shadow, one which appears in Juan de Borgoña’s treatment of the saint in other panels. In this talk, how this stubbly Saint Augustine appears in other works by the artist will be explored— including another altarpiece in Capodimonte’s collections —and how local audiences might have interpreted his unusual appearance.  To register, email: americanfriendsofcapodimonte@gmail.com