Bernardo Tolomei (10 May 1272 – 20 August 1348) was an Italian Catholic priest and the founder of the Congregation of the Blessed Virgin of Monte Oliveto.

[4] He was educated by his uncle, Christopher Tolomeo, a Dominican, and desired to enter the religious life, but his father's opposition prevented him from doing so, and he continued his studies in secular surroundings.

[4] Towards the end of 1318 or the beginning of 1319, while deep in prayer, he is said to have seen a ladder on which monks in white habits ascended, helped by angels, and awaited by Jesus and Mary.

Bishop Guido Tarlati of Arezzo, within whose diocese the congregation was formed, confirmed its constitution in (1319), and many favours were granted by Popes John XXII, Clement VI (1344), and Gregory XI.

[7] Through the generosity of a merchant, a monastery was erected at Siena; Bishop Tarlati built another at Arezzo; a third sprang up at Florence; and within a very few years there were establishments at Camprena, Volterra, San Geminiano, Eugubio, Foligno, and Rome.

[7] His last days were depicted in a painting by the 18th-century Italian painter Giuseppe Maria Crespi in a work was entitled: 'The Blessed Bernard Tolomei Interceding for the Cessation of the Plague in Siena' (1735).