BOTTICELLI, Sandro
(b. 1445, Firenze, d. 1510, Firenze)

Vision of St Augustine

c. 1488
Tempera on panel, 20 x 38 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

The picture shows the second predella panel of the St Barnaba Altarpiece.

According to a legend, St Augustine the bishop, while he was thinking about the Holy Trinity, met a child on the beach who was attempting to use a spoon to transfer the waters of the ocean into a small hole. When Augustine explained to him that this was not possible, the child replied that it was far more foolish to try to find an explanation for the mystery of the Trinity.