Maestà (Duccio)

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Maestà
Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1308-1311
Tempera and gold on wood
213 × 396 cm
Museo dell'Opera Metropolitana del Duomo, Siena

Maestà with Twenty Angels and Nineteen Saints is an altarpiece composed of many individual paintings commissioned by the city of Siena in 1308 from the artist Duccio di Buoninsegna. Though it took a generation for its effect truly to be felt, Duccio's Maestà set Italian painting on a course leading away from the hieratic representations of Byzantine art towards more direct presentations of reality.

Contents

[edit] History

The painting was installed in the cathedral of Siena on June 9, 1311. One person who witnessed this event wrote:

And on that day when it was brought into the cathedral, all workshops remained closed, and the bishop commanded a great host of devoted priests and monks to file past in solemn procession. This was accompanied by all the high officers of the Commune and by all the people; all honorable citizens of Siena surrounded said panel with candles held in their hands, and women and children followed humbly behind. They accompanied the panel amidst the glorious pealing of bells after a solemn procession on the Piazza del Campo into the very cathedral; and all this out of reverence for the costly panel… The poor received many alms, and we prayed to the Holy Mother of God, our patron saint, that she might in her infinite mercy preserve this our city of Siena from every misfortune, traitor or enemy.

Besides the Virgin Mary and the Baby Jesus, saints depicted in the painting include John the Evangelist (to the left of the throne); Saint Paul; Catherine of Alexandria; John the Baptist (to the right of the throne); Saint Peter; and Saint Agnes.[1] In the foreground are Siena’s various patron saints: Saint Ansanus; Saint Savinus; Saint Crescentius; and Saint Victor.[2]

The altarpiece remained in place until 1711, when it was dismantled in order to distribute the pieces between two altars. The five-meter high construction was dismantled and sawn up, and the paintings damaged in the process. Partial restoration took place in 1956. The dismantling also led to pieces going astray, either being sold, or simply unaccounted for. Today remains of the altarpiece not at Siena are divided among several other museums.

[edit] List of panels

[edit] In Siena

Reading scheme of the backside
Reading scheme of the backside
  • The Mother of God Enthroned with the Christ Child Amidst Angels and Saints, central panel
  • The Wedding Feast of Cana
  • The Temptation of Christ atop the Temple
  • The Annunciation of the Virgin's death
  • The Virgin's Farewell to St John
  • The Virgin's Farewell to the Apostles
  • The Death of the Virgin
  • The Funeral of the Virgin
  • The Burial of the Virgin
  • The Appearance of Christ behind closed doors
  • The Incredulity of St Thomas
  • The Pentecost
  • The Appearance of Christ on Lake Tiberias
  • The Appearance of Christ on the Mountain in Galilee
  • The Appearance of Christ to the Apostles at Supper
  • The Adoration of the Magi; Salomon
  • The Presentation in the Temple; the prophet Malachi
  • The Massacre of the Innocents; the prophet Jeremiah
  • The The Flight into Egypt; the prophet Hosea
  • The Boy Jesus among the Doctors
  • Episodes from Christ's Passion Tempera and gold on wood. The work, consisting of 26 episodes on 14 panels, was originally the reverse surface of the Maestà.

[edit] Elsewhere

[edit] References

[edit] External links