Prophet Jeremiah
ca. 1320
tempera, gold and silver on wood
29.9 x 21 cm
Inv. 55.134
This work of outstanding quality was originally a pinnacle piece on the right side of a polyptych. The identity of the prophet, who turns to the left and points downwards – originally probably to the Virgin and Child – is revealed by the Latin text on the scroll he holds. It is a prophecy referring to the sacrifice of Christ: “I had been like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter” (Jeremiah 11, 19). The head type and the forms accentuated by a contrast of dark and light preserve the Byzantine traditions, while the rich folds of the drapery painted with subtly graded color transitions, and the graceful line of the thin gold border of the dress reveals the knowledge of Gothic art. Jeremiah’s head is covered by the — now strongly abraded — five-pointed headpiece of the Old Testament prophets. The painting was made in the immediate environment of one of the greatest masters of the Italian trecento, the Sienese Duccio.
D.S.
