Madonna and Child with Saints and the Crucifixion

Though this small portable triptych (a three-paneled altarpiece) displays stylistic elements of both Florentine and Sienese painting, it comes much closer to the art of Duccio (Sienese, active 1278-1319) in its rich gold background, jewel-like colors, and conventional placement and size of figures according to their significance. Like Duccio's, the figures by this unknown artist possess a degree of solidity and humanity not seen in earlier

Sienese art.

The Virgin and infant Christ are the chief subjects of the triptych and thus are largest in scale and located in the central panel.  Next are St. Peter, on the left, identified by his key to the heavenly kingdom, and St. John the Baptist, on the right, recognized by his camel hair garment and reed cross. The left wing of the altarpiece contains the figure of an unknown bishop saint dressed in a red chasuble, and below him exists a smaller and unnamed kneeling figure who may be the donor of the altarpiece. The right wing depicts the crucified Christ and a placard with a Greek monogram for "Jesus Christ." The Virgin and St. John stand beneath the cross.