The Saint Apollonia Complete Portfolio by Andy Warhol comprises four screenprints based on a panel painting attributed to the workshop of Piero della Francesca, c. 1455–1460. Across the portfolio, Warhol preserves the saint’s calm frontal pose while exploring four distinct color harmonies. Brilliant red, deep umber, muted ochre, and radiant yellow backgrounds transform the emotional character of each print without altering the underlying composition. Fine craquelure from the Renaissance original remains visible throughout, allowing centuries of history to coexist with Warhol’s unmistakably modern palette.
Faith, Martyrdom, and Personal Devotion
Although Andy Warhol built his reputation on consumer culture and celebrity portraiture, he remained a deeply religious man throughout his life. Raised in the Byzantine Catholic tradition, he attended St. John Chrysostom Byzantine Catholic Church as a child, where gilded icons, devotional imagery, and Renaissance-inspired paintings formed part of his earliest visual experiences. His open homosexuality did not diminish his attachment to the Church, even as it created tensions within his personal life. Instead, faith became one of the quieter, more enduring influences on his work.
That influence emerged with particular clarity during the final decade of Warhol’s career. Through the Saint Apollonia Complete Portfolio, he explored the visual language of devotion and considered how sacred images continue to inspire belief across centuries. Saint Apollonia herself was martyred during the persecution of Christians in Alexandria, traditionally enduring the extraction of all her teeth before choosing death rather than renouncing her faith. Consequently, she became the patron saint of dentistry and those suffering from toothaches. Rather than dramatizing her suffering, Warhol presents her with remarkable restraint, emphasizing contemplation over spectacle.
Reimagining a Renaissance Saint
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 the Saint Apollonia Complete Portfolio, Warhol pays homage rather than subverts. He preserves nearly every element of Francesca’s composition, allowing color—not distortion—to become the primary vehicle for reinterpretation. The result is one of the most restrained and quietly reverential portfolios of Warhol’s career.
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.
