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This painting was part of the front panel of a cassone (marriage chest). The subject of this panel is inspired by one of the most well-known literary texts of the Trecento: Petrarch's I Trionfi.
The picture space is divided into three separate scenes although the central and left-hand scenes appear to run in a continuous narrative: on the left, The Triumph of Fame (Petrarch's Fourth Trionfo), in which Fame is shown on a horse-drawn chariot and surrounded by poets (including Dante dressed in red and possibly Boccaccio beside him), heroes, scholars and other figures; in the centre, The Triumph of Time (Petrarch's Fifth Trionfo), in which Father Time and four putti representing the Elements Fire, Water and Air (Earth is hidden behind Time), are shown on a chariot drawn by deer; and in a separate compartment on the right is the cosmic representation of The Triumph of Eternity (Petrarch's Sixth Trionfo), showing Christ in glory surrounded by angels, above a bird's-eye view of the earthly sphere.
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