GEERTGEN tot Sint Jans
(b. 1460/65, Leiden, d. 1490, Haarlem)

St Bavo

1480s
Oil on canvas, 37 x 30 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

Bavo is the patron saint of Gent and Lauwe, Belgium and Haarlem, the Netherlands. He is most often shown in Christian art as a knight with a sword and falcon. He was a knight and landowner who at the end of his life distributed his wealth to the poor and took monastic vows.