Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints

This small portable triptych was undoubtedly made for personal devotion. The enthroned Virgin and Child are accompanied by Saints Helena and Peter (left), and Saints Catherine of Alexandria and Paul (right). On the left wing is a scene of St. Francis of Assisi receiving the stigmata (the same wounds Christ suffered on the Cross); on the right wing is a scene of the Crucifixion, with the mourning Virgin and St. John the Evangelist. Bernardo Daddi was a close follower of Giotto, the artist who first fully expressed the sculptural solidity of the human form. He was also influenced by the Sienese school, evident here in his lyrical sense of line and the subtle tonal variation.