On June 9, 1311, a monumental altarpiece known as the “Maestà” (c. 1308–11) was carried in solemn procession from the workshop of its artist, Duccio di Buoninsegna, to the high altar of the recently completed cathedral of Siena. Unprecedented in scale - it was once the largest Italian wooden altarpiece ever painted, measuring 4.68m x 4.99m, or 15’4″ x 16’4″- and in composition, the “Maestà” is Duccio’s most famous work and one of the most important paintings of the 14th century. Depicting the Virgin Mary “in majesty” surrounded by saints and angels on the front, and scenes of Christ’s passion on the back, the “Maestà” testifies to Siena’s special and privileged relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary. The “Maestà” is exhibited at the Museo dell’Opera Metropolitana del Duomo in Siena, Italy.
On June 9th of the year 1311, the Commune of Siena declared a national holiday.
The reason was the completion of the city's most important painting.
It was Duccio's Maestà.
And this painting was carried from Duccio's workshop and paraded through the streets of
the city and then finally brought and placed on the high altar of Siena Cathedral.
The word Maestà means majesty in English.
And Duccio's painting is an image of the Virgin Mary in majesty, like a queen, surrounded
by her court which consists of a group of thirty figures, twenty of whom are angels
and ten of whom are saints.
And if the front side of Duccio's painting is a celebration of the Virgin Mary, then
the back side is one of Jesus Christ, because it consists of 26 scenes illustrating the
passion of Christ from his triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the road to Emmaus.
And Duccio's painting was once the largest ever painted in Italian art, originally measuring
some 16 feet in height and some 17 feet in width.
Already in the 16th century, Duccio's painting was removed from the high altar and put into
storage, and remained there until the end of the 18th century, when the opera finally
decided to sell the painting off, but because there aren't too many people who have living
rooms large enough to accommodate 16 by 17 foot paintings, they decided to dismember
it.
That is, pulling apart the pinnacle pieces, the predella pieces, and separating the front
from the back.
And while the majority of the painting is here in the Cathedral Museum in Siena, parts
of the Maestà can be found throughout the world in places like New York, or Fort Worth,
Texas, or Madrid, or London as well.
So if you're in Siena, be sure to stop by the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo to enjoy
what's left of Duccio's great masterpiece.
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