Saint Apollonia

The early Christian martyr Apollonia stands as an almost sculptural presence against a plain gold ground, holding the palm of her martyrdom in one hand and, in the other, the pincers with a tooth that recall the manner of her torture and made her the patron saint of dentists. The panel is attributed to Piero della Francesca, the great master of monumental stillness and geometric light, and it shows precisely those qualities — the saint simplified into broad planes of colour, her features built with a gravity that anticipates his most famous figures, her drapery falling as if carved from marble. Painted about 1455 to 1460, the picture belongs to the years of Piero’s decorations in Arezzo, and though the modest format suggests a small devotional altarpiece, the breadth and serenity of the conception are wholly his. The painting is held in the National Gallery of Art, Washington.