The Virgin and Child Enthroned; Christ on the Cross between the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist

The kneeling group of Franciscan nuns at the foot of the Virgin’s throne makes it clear that this portable reliquary was made for a community of Poor Clare nuns. Their orderly placement beneath the solidly built throne contrasts with the image of the Crucifixion beside it, which amplifies the physical and emotional aspects of the Passion. In that panel, every element is intensified, from the expressively charged angels above the cross to the streams of blood that pool on the rocks of Golgotha. This painting seems to respond to the Meditationes Vitae Christi (Meditations on the Life of Christ), a popular text written in the early fourteenth century as a devotional tool for Franciscan nuns. Its carefully narrated “meditations” were meant to touch nuns’ emotions and move them to experience the stories of salvation.