After being apprenticed to Taddeo Gaddi, Jacopo del Casentino followed his master to Florence, where, in 1339, he became one of the founders of the painters’ guild. His workshop specialized in the production of small altarpieces for private devotion. On the center panel of the winged altarpiece (triptych), in the trefoil of the tympanum, Christ is depicted as the Savior of the World (Salvator mundi) and, beneath Him, the Virgin is enthroned as the Queen of Heaven. In keeping with the iconographic type developed in Siena in the early 14th century, the Madonna and Child are surrounded by saints and angels. This portrayal of their tender relationship indicates an influence of Sienese painting. Below this main scene, the Death of the Virgin is depicted. Behind her deathbed, Christ appears among the Apostles, holding the Virgin’s soul, portrayed as a child, in His hands. The tympana on the wings show the Annunciation. At the lower right is the Crucifixion, whereas the Last Judgment can be seen at the left.
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