Saints and Scenes from the Life of the Virgin
ca. 1320
Medium
Tempera on wood, gold ground
Dimensions
Left wing, overall, with engaged frame, 25 1/4 x 9 1/4 in. (64.1 x 23.5 cm), painted surface 23 3/8 x 7 1/2 in. (59.4 x 19.1 cm); right wing, overall, with engaged frame, 25 1/8 x 9 3/8 in. (63.8 x 23.8 cm), painted surface 23 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. (59.7 x 19.1 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of George Blumenthal, 1941
Accession Number
41.190.31bc
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite diptych, *Saints and Scenes from Life of the Virgin*, around 1320 by the anonymous Master of Monteeto—a painter active in the vibrant Sienese school of early Italian Gothic art—offers a luminous window into medieval devotion. The left and right wings, painted in tempera on wood with shimmering gold ground, feature intimate vignettes from the Virgin Mary's life, including the Annunciation, Nativity, Adoration of Shepherds, and Adoration of the Magi. Flanking these sacred narratives are revered figures like the Virgin Mary, Archangel Gabriel, Saint John the Baptist, and Mary Magda...