Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 6 minutes):Guillaume Dufay: Ave, maris stella, hymn for the feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Duccio's famous Maestą was commissioned by the Siena Cathedral in 138 and it was completed in 1311. Today most of this elaborate double-sided altarpiece is in the cathedral museum but several of the predella panels are scattered outside Italy in various museums. It is probably the most important panel ever painted in Italy; it is certainly among the most beautiful. Compressed within the compass of an altarpiece is the equivalent of an entire programme for the fresco painting of a church.
The whole of the front of the main panel is occupied by a scene of the Virgin and Child in majesty surrounded by angels and saints, and corresponding to this on the back there are twenty-six scenes from Christ's Passion. Originally there were subsidiary scenes from Christ's life above and below the main panel. The whole work is a superb standard of craftsmanship, and the exquisite colouring and supple draughtsmanship create effects of great beauty.
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Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 6 minutes): Guillaume Dufay: Ave, maris stella, hymn for the feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary |
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