The medium is tempera on wood with gold overlays. Duccio is credited with having been a leader in the turning of Western art from the Byzantine to a more realistic representation of the artist's subjects.
Front
Reverse
More than four hundred years later, 1771, the masterpiece was sawed into pieces, dismantled, and effectively flung to the four winds. Parts of it have been recovered and reassembled, some of it finds residence in musea across the face of the Earth, and parts of it are still missing, likely shall always be missing. It is thought that cutting it up was a commercial venture, that is, to make the "parts" more saleable and more easily transported. A principal portion resides in a museum in Siena, its hometown.
Source: Masterpiece Cards and various websites.
4 comments:
That's a fancy piece of art. Any idea why it was disassembled?
Chuck, my sources are vague and not entirely in agreement. The source I cited says the altarpiece was dismantled in 1771. Wikipedia article says 1711. At any rate, a number of the original artworks were removed from the Duomo and replaced by others. Much of the Maesta is in the Opera Museum of the Duomo in Siena. As I suggested, it is thought that parts of it were sold and some have been recovered, some not.
Interesting. I was not around in 1311. Neither were you, I'm pretty sure.
Sharkey, true. I'm old, but not that old.
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