Full title | The Transfiguration |
---|---|
Artist | Duccio |
Artist dates | active 1278; died 1319 |
Series | Maestà Predella Panels |
Date made | 1307/8-11 |
Medium and support | Egg tempera on wood |
Dimensions | 48.5 x 51.4 cm |
Acquisition credit | Presented by R.H. Wilson, 1891 |
Inventory number | NG1330 |
Location | Room 52 |
Art route(s) | A |
Collection | Main Collection |
Christ stands at the centre of this small square panel. The moment shown is the Transfiguration, when Jesus ascended a mountain and became filled with heavenly light, shown here by the golden striations (stripes) on his robes. Suddenly the Old Testament prophets Moses (on his left) and Elijah (on his right) appeared and began to speak with him. God then spoke, singling out Christ as divinely favoured: ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.’
Jesus’s disciples, at the bottom of the mountain, raise their hands in fear, dazzled by the sight. This scene was the eighth of nine images that formed the back of the predella (lowest part) of the Maestà, a five-tiered, double-sided altarpiece. It was the focus of the devotion of the Virgin in Siena and it is the only known signed work by the city’s leading artist, Duccio di Buoninsegna.
Christ stands at the top of a rocky mound, and the striations – stripes of gold leaf – on his clothes make him look as though he is shining. The moment shown is the Transfiguration, when Christ ascended a mountain and according to the Gospel of Matthew, ‘he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light’ (Matthew 17: 2).
Christ stands between Moses to the left and Elijah to the right. According to the Gospel, they appeared before him and began to speak with him. At this moment, a voice came from heaven: ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him’ (Matthew 17: 5). The disciples Peter, James and John are kneeling below. They raise their hands up to shield their faces and recoil in fear. The Transfiguration prefigured the Resurrection and Ascension, when Christ ascended in glory from his tomb. This level of meaning was reinforced by the panel’s placement next to a scene showing the raising of Lazarus, a miracle in which Christ raised a man from the dead in anticipation of his own conquest of death.
It is suggested that the prophets' sombre brown and purple clothing – Moses wears an animal skin cloak – is deliberately dark in contrast with the bright reds, greens and blues of Christ and the disciples to show the revelation of the divine in the person of Christ. A large part of the body of the central kneeling figure, Saint John the Evangelist, has been damaged; originally his robes were entirely red. The damaged area has been restored but not repainted.
This panel was once part of the back predella of Duccio’s large Sienese altarpiece, the Maestà. It was positioned between The Healing of the Man born Blind and the Raising of Lazarus. Unlike the front predella these scenes were not alternated with images of prophets but placed next to each other. Before the predella was cut into different scenes in the eighteenth century, the cured blind man in The Healing of the Man born Blind was looking up towards the figure of the transfigured Christ here.
This is a rare Italian painting featuring the Transfiguration – the event that prefigured Christ’s Resurrection, on Easter Day. The Feast of the Transfiguration (6 August) was not universally celebrated in the Western Christian Church in Duccio’s lifetime. Another example, a painting on canvas made in Siena four decades earlier by Guido da Siena, has a similar design. The original prototype comes from Byzantium, the Eastern Christian empire, where the feast was celebrated.
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Maestà Predella Panels
These three small panels come from the altarpiece known as the Maestà (‘Majesty’), made for Siena Cathedral. It is the only surviving signed work by the city’s leading artist, Duccio di Buoninsegna. These paintings formed part of the predella, the lowest part of the altarpiece.
The Maestà was painted on both sides: The Annunciation comes from the front predella, while the Healing of the Man born Blind and the Transfiguration were originally placed next to each other on the back of the predella. The predella itself was shaped like a rectangular box, with images on both sides, providing support for the large, double-sided picture.
When the picture was completed in 1311 it was carried in a festive procession across the streets of Siena to the cathedral, where it was placed above the high altar. There it became the focus of the Siena’s devotion to the Virgin Mary, who was considered the protector of the city.
These small square panels come from one of the largest and most ambitious altarpieces ever made. It is the only signed work by Duccio di Buoninsegna, the leading artist of medieval Siena, who created it with the help of a workshop of assistants. The entire work measured five square metres, was painted on both sides and comprised five tiers of images including 54 minutely detailed narrative scenes.
The altarpiece is known as the Maestà (‘Majesty’) after its main image of the Virgin with the Christ Child seated on a marble throne, which was surrounded by rows of saints and angels, including – in the most prominent positions – the patron saints of Siena. The reverse of this image showed 26 scenes from Christ’s Passion – his trial, torture and death. The Crucifixion occupied a central position and was double the size of the other scenes.
The three panels in the National Gallery come from the predella, the lowest level of the altarpiece. The Annunciation is from the front and so would have been beneath the image of the Virgin, while The Healing of the Man born Blind and The Transfiguration come from the back, which showed scenes from Jesus’s ministry. It was probably what is known as a ‘box predella’: the images were painted on either side of a low rectangular box-shaped structure which provided some support for the immense double-sided altarpiece above it.
The Maestà was commissioned by the cathedral authorities, many of whom were members of the city’s council. It was an important statement of Siena’s civic pride as well as the focus of its religious devotion to the Virgin Mary, its protectress. Siena was known as the Civitas Virginis, the city of the Virgin. According to legend, in 1260 the keys to the city had been dedicated to her on the eve of a battle against the nearby city state of Florence, in return for her protection. The ceremony took place before the cathedral’s high altar which most probably bore an image of the Virgin, framed by two candles which burned day and night. The Maestà was commissioned to adorn a new high altar which was under construction from the late thirteenth century when the cathedral was being rebuilt. At around the same time, in 1287, Duccio designed a circular stained glass window showing the death, assumption and coronation of the Virgin.
On 9 June 1311, this magnificent work was carried in procession through the streets of Siena from Duccio’s workshop to the cathedral, where it was installed above the high altar. Surviving documents record how the procession was headed by the city’s bishop, Ruggero da Casole, who was followed by the city’s clerics and officials. The ceremonial procession was accompanied by musicians and lit up with lamps and candles.
There are different ideas as to the location of this high altar and why the altarpiece was double sided, but it is likely that the congregation had access to both sides. By 1506 the Maestà had been removed from the high altar and in the late eighteenth century it was sawn in half, causing damage to the Virgin’s face. Some fragments were sold and are now scattered across international collections; a few are now missing. The majority of it remains to be seen in the Museo dell'opera del Duomo in Siena.



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