Duccio: Maesta

Here is just a brief post to direct readers to a wonderful exposition of Duccio's Maesta that David Orme has put up recently on his website at art threads. Just click on the Duccio section and you will be able to scroll through all the panels on both the front and rear of the famed altarpiece.

In addition to the depiction of the Madonna and Child, the front panels depict scenes from the life of Mary. The focus of the rear is the Passion and Death of Christ with panels depicting scenes from the life of Christ with emphasis on the Passion narrative.

David, a professed agnostic with a love for Italy and its art, has provided the relevant scriptural passages as well as brief comments.

This site is devoted to Giorgione and the Venetian Renaissance but I couldn't resist the opportunity to draw attention to David's work on Siena's famous Maesta, an altarpiece that I now see ranks right up there with Giotto's work in Padua's Scrovegni chapel.