DUCCIO di Buoninsegna
(b. ca. 1255, Siena, d. 1319, Siena)

Entry into Jerusalem (detail)

1308-11
Tempera on wood
Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Siena

The small tree, withered and leafless, that shows behind Christ's halo, is the fig-tree that Christ found without fruit. The depiction of the compact, polygonal marble building which dominates the silhouette of the city is probably based on historical or then contemporary central structures. It might be a recreation of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem or of baptismal churches, such as the Baptistery in Florence.