3. Italian Painting (13-18th c.)

The picture, originally arched at the top and altered into a rectangular format later, is the central fragment of a lunette that once crowned the Massacre of the Innocents altarpiece in the Church of Sant’Agostino in Siena. In the original composition, two praying male saints were visible in the corners, St. Augustine on the left and Saint Francis of Assisi on the right. The sleeve of the latter’s brown habit can still be seen at the lower right. In the central fragment, the ethereal, pale-skinned figures are shown slightly from above in a shallow space, against a splendid gold background. Small decorative details enliven the large, delicately modelled fields of muted colours, such as the eye-catching triple-star motif on the Virgin’s shoulder, the angels’ brilliant wings, the split brocade sleeves, or the minutely painted tresses of hair. The central panel of the altarpiece depicting the Massacre of the Innocents is today exhibited in the town hall of Siena. The inscription at its bottom includes the date of the work and names the painter, who was an acknowledged and much employed Sienese master in the second half of the 15th century.