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Maestà (Duccio)
Encyclopedia
The Maestà, or Maestà of Duccio is an altarpiece
composed of many individual paintings commissioned by the city of Siena
in 1308 from the artist Duccio di Buoninsegna. The front panels make up a large enthroned Madonna and Child with saints and angels, and a predella
of the Childhood of Christ with prophets. The reverse has the rest of a combined cycle of the Life of the Virgin
and Life of Christ
in a total of forty-three small scenes; several panels are now dispersed or lost. 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.
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
. In the foreground are Siena’s various patron saints: Saint Ansanus; Saint Sabinus; Saint Crescentius
; and Saint Victor
.
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. Extant remains of the altarpiece not at Siena are divided among several other museums.
Altarpiece
An altarpiece is a picture or relief representing a religious subject and suspended in a frame behind the altar of a church. The altarpiece is often made up of two or more separate panels created using a technique known as panel painting. It is then called a diptych, triptych or polyptych for two,...
composed of many individual paintings commissioned by the city of Siena
Siena
Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...
in 1308 from the artist Duccio di Buoninsegna. The front panels make up a large enthroned Madonna and Child with saints and angels, and a predella
Predella
A predella is the platform or step on which an altar stands . In painting, the predella is the painting or sculpture along the frame at the bottom of an altarpiece...
of the Childhood of Christ with prophets. The reverse has the rest of a combined cycle of the Life of the Virgin
Life of the Virgin
The Life of the Virgin, showing narrative scenes from the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is a common subject for pictorial cycles in Christian art, often complementing, or forming part of, a cycle on the Life of Christ. In both cases the number of scenes shown varies greatly with the space...
and Life of Christ
Life of Christ
The Life of Christ as a narrative cycle in Christian art comprises a number of different subjects, which were often grouped in series or cycles of works in a variety of media, narrating the life of Jesus on earth, as distinguished from the many other subjects in art showing the eternal life of...
in a total of forty-three small scenes; several panels are now dispersed or lost. 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
Byzantine art
Byzantine art is the term commonly used to describe the artistic products of the Byzantine Empire from about the 5th century until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453....
towards more direct presentations of reality.
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 CampoPiazza del CampoPiazza del Campo is the principal public space of the historic center of Siena, Tuscany, Italy and is one of Europe's greatest medieval squares. It is renowned worldwide for its beauty and architectural integrity. The Palazzo Pubblico and its Torre del Mangia, as well as various palazzi signorili...
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
John the Evangelist
Saint John the Evangelist is the conventional name for the author of the Gospel of John...
(to the left of the throne); Saint Paul
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
; Catherine of Alexandria
Catherine of Alexandria
Saint Catherine of Alexandria, also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius...
; John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
(to the right of the throne); Saint Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
; and Saint Agnes
Saint Agnes
Agnes of Rome is a virgin–martyr, venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, and Lutheranism. She is one of seven women, excluding the Blessed Virgin, commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass...
. In the foreground are Siena’s various patron saints: Saint Ansanus; Saint Sabinus; Saint Crescentius
Crescentius of Rome
Saint Crescentius of Rome is venerated as a child martyr by the Roman Catholic Church. According to tradition, he was born of a noble Roman family and was baptized along with his parents by Saint Epigmenius. During the persecutions of Christians by Diocletian, the family fled to Perugia, where...
; and Saint Victor
Victor and Corona
Saints Victor and Corona are two Christian martyrs. Most sources state that they were killed in Syria during the reign of Marcus Aurelius . However, various hagiographical texts disagree about the site of their martyrdom, with some stating that it was Damascus, while Coptic sources state that it...
.
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. Extant remains of the altarpiece not at Siena are divided among several other museums.
In Siena
- 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; Solomon
- The Presentation in the Temple; the prophet Malachi
- The Massacre of the Innocents; the prophet Jeremiah
- 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.
Elsewhere
- Angel (formerly in the Stoclet Collection, BrusselsBrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
) - Angel (Philadelphia Museum of ArtPhiladelphia Museum of ArtThe Philadelphia Museum of Art is among the largest art museums in the United States. It is located at the west end of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. The Museum was established in 1876 in conjunction with the Centennial Exposition of the same year...
, Philadelphia) - Archangel Gabriel (Castel Huis Bergh, in 's-Heerenberg's-Heerenbergs-Heerenberg is a city on the Dutch-German border, in the Province of Gelderland, Netherlands. It is located about 5 km north of the German Emmerich, and about 12 km south of Doetinchem. It received city rights in 1379....
, The Netherlands) - Angel (Mount Holyoke CollegeMount Holyoke CollegeMount Holyoke College is a liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It was the first member of the Seven Sisters colleges, and served as a model for some of the others...
, South Hadley, MassachusettsSouth Hadley, MassachusettsSouth Hadley is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 17,514 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area....
) - The Coronation of the Virgin (Szépmüveszéti Muzeum, BudapestBudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
- image) - The Annunciation (National Gallery, LondonNational Gallery, LondonThe National Gallery is an art museum on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media...
) - Isaiah; Nativity; Ezekiel (Andrew W. Mellon Collection, National Gallery of ArtNational Gallery of ArtThe National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
, Washington, DC) - Temptation of Christ on the Mountain (Frick CollectionFrick CollectionThe Frick Collection is an art museum located in Manhattan, New York City, United States.- History :It is housed in the former Henry Clay Frick House, which was designed by Thomas Hastings and constructed in 1913-1914. John Russell Pope altered and enlarged the building in the early 1930s to adapt...
, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
) - Calling of SS. Peter and Andrew (Samuel H. Kress Collection, National Gallery of ArtNational Gallery of ArtThe National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
, Washington DC) - Christ and the Samaritan Woman (Museo Thyssen-BornemiszaMuseo Thyssen-BornemiszaThe Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, or in Spanish Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, is an art museum near the Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain. It is known as a part of the "Golden Triangle of Art", which also includes the Prado and the Reina Sofia galleries...
, MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
) - Healing of the Blind Man (National Gallery, LondonNational Gallery, LondonThe National Gallery is an art museum on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media...
) - The Transfiguration (National Gallery, LondonNational Gallery, LondonThe National Gallery is an art museum on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media...
) - The Raising of Lazarus (Kimbell Art MuseumKimbell Art MuseumThe Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, hosts a small but excellent art collection as well as traveling art exhibitions, educational programs and an extensive research library. Its initial artwork came from the private collection of Kay and Velma Kimbell, who also provided funds for a new...
, Fort Worth, TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
)
See also
- Presentation at the Temple (Ambrogio Lorenzetti)Presentation at the Temple (Ambrogio Lorenzetti)The Presentation at the Temple is a painting by the Italian late medieval painter Ambrogio Lorenzetti, signed and dated 1342, now housed in the Uffizi Gallery of Florence, Italy. It is one of the largest works by the Italian medieval painter, as well as one of the five which he signed and...
- Annunciation with St. Margaret and St. AnsanusAnnunciation with St. Margaret and St. AnsanusThe Annunciation with St. Margaret and St. Ansanus is a painting by the Italian Gothic artists Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi, now housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. It is a wooden triptych painted in tempera and gold, with a central panel having double size...
- Nativity of the Virgin (Pietro Lorenzetti)Nativity of the Virgin (Pietro Lorenzetti)The Nativity of the Virgin is a painting by the Italian late medieval painter Pietro Lorenzetti, dating from around 1335-1342, now housed in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo of Siena, Italy.-History:The painting originally decorated the altar of St...