Andy Warhol’s Saint Apollonia Complete Portfolio is inspired by a panel painting attributed to the workshop of Piero della Francesca (1470). Saint Apollonia, recognized as the patron saint of dentistry, was believed to have suffered martyrdom in the 3rd century, when her teeth were broken with pincers.
Although most of Warhol’s work is not associated with piety or religious subjects, he was a devout Catholic. In the 1970s, his faith began to surface more visibly in his art. Warhol’s open homosexuality did not diminish his reverence for the Church, even as it clashed with his identity. Instead, faith became a deep and complex source of inspiration. Through his Saint Apollonia prints, Warhol examined the visual language of devotion, exploring how veneration and belief manifest through imagery.
Warhol’s relationship with religious symbolism began early in life. The ornate icons and gilded altarpieces of the St. John Chrysostom Byzantine Catholic Church, which he attended as a child, likely shaped his appreciation for sacred imagery. Decades later, Saint Apollonia revisited that early fascination. The portfolio reflects both reverence for and reinterpretation of Renaissance art.
Warhol’s Artistic Approach to Saint Apollonia
The Saint Apollonia portfolio differs from many of Warhol’s other suites through its fidelity to the original image. While he applied his trademark palette of bold, vivid colors, he did so with restraint. The tones are softer and more contemplative than in his celebrity portraits or commercial works. Unlike his usual method of layering colors to produce intentional misalignment, Warhol approached these prints with precision. The result feels closer to restoration than reinvention. He even preserved the visible surface cracks from Francesca’s painting, lending texture and authenticity to each print.
The portfolio includes four screenprints—FS II.330, FS II.331, FS II.332, and FS II.333. Each features subtle variations in tone and contrast that highlight the saint’s calm expression and symbolic attributes.
Saint Apollonia Complete Portfolio in Warhol’s Larger Body of Work
Like many artists before him, Warhol studied the connection between faith, symbolism, and beauty. In the final decade of his life, he returned to Renaissance sources for inspiration. This late period included portfolios such as Birth of Venus, Details of a Renaissance Painting, St. George and the Dragon, and The Annunciation. Together, these works reveal Warhol’s sustained dialogue with art history.
In Saint Apollonia, Warhol seems to pay homage rather than subvert. He includes nearly every element of Francesca’s original, excluding nothing from the composition. The result feels devotional, as if Warhol sought not to challenge faith but to honor it through his own visual language.
The original painting of Saint Apollonia still resides in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where it continues to inspire new interpretations of beauty, suffering, and belief.
Photo Credit: Attributed to Piero della Francesca, Saint Apollonia, c. 1455–1460, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Image courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.19.
