Carmelite Saint
He is Saint Albert. Sometimes, in holy representations, there happen to be a saint who belongs to a religious order. This gives us important clues on the painting’s history. In fact, we know that this picture was commissioned by the friars “Carmelitani dell’Osservanza” of Casale Monferrato (Italy). They moved from Mantua to Piedmont when the Marquise of Alençon called for them. Probably the fact that they were from Mantua explains why the job was given to a painter who used to work in the area near Bologna.