A Dominican Preaching

Agnolo degli Erri

National Gallery of Art

A person wearing a black hood and cloak over a white long-sleeved garment stands in a wooden box, a pulpit, and speaks to a crowd gathered below in this vertical painting. The people all have pale skin tinged with green and pink cheeks. The preacher stands along the right side of the painting, his mouth open and both hands held up. He faces our left almost in profile, and his forehead, eyes, and mouth are deeply lined. Seventeen men and women sit or stand across the front of the crowd or at the far side of it. They wear garments in rose pink, fog gray, sapphire blue, vivid red, or black. Five of them sit along a wooden rail or bench closest to us with their backs facing out. Between this and the standing people on the far side of the crowd are dozens of heads, mostly covered with white cloths though a few have blond hair. Buildings in gray, pale pink, or white stone fill the background except for a few patches of sky, which are shiny gold. The torso of a person holding an open book floats high above the crowd, cut off by the top edge of the painting. The person wears a dark blue robe over a pink garment and is surrounded by a ring made of the red wings of winged, blond baby heads with gold halos. Gold rays radiate out from the ring.