(Pittsburgh 1928-1987 New York)
Saint Apollonia - the Portfolio of four screen-prints, 1984, each signed Andy Warhol, four colored screen-prints on Essex offset kid finish paper, 76.2 x 55.9 cm, each no. 248 from the edition of 250 examples, print Rupert Jasen Smith, New York, ed. Frank Braun, Düsseldorf, each framed (4)

Provenance:
Private collection, Germany

Literature:
Freyda Feldman, Jörg Schellmann, Claudia Defendi, Andy Warhol Prints, A Catalogue Raisonné 1962-1987, New York 2015, II. 330-333, p.141 Saint Apollonia 1984

Although most of Andy Warhol’s works do not have a religious focus, the artist was a devout Catholic and, like many other artists, was preoccupied with religious themes and their inherent iconography. In the early 1980s, Warhol was increasingly inspired by Renaissance artists: his Saint Apollonia series is a perfect example.
It is based on a panel painting attributed to Piero della Francesca. The 15th-century panel is now in the National Gallery of Art in Washington. Saint Apollonia, depicted in the work, is considered the patron saint of dentistry and she carries a pair of pliers with a tooth, in both the panel painting and in Warhol’s version.
Compared to the panel by Piero della Francesca’s workshop, there is very little cropping in Warhol’s prints, which also preserve the craquelé of the original painting. This gives them an optical texture that is true to the original.