LORENZETTI, Pietro
(b. ca. 1280, Siena, d. 1348, Siena)

Madonna with Angels between St Nicholas and Prophet Elijah

1328-29
Tempera on wood, 169 x 148 cm
Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena

This panel with the predella was the central part of the altarpiece of the Carmelite church San Niccolò al Carmine in Siena. The altarpiece was dismembered in the 16th century. The later repaintings were removed during the restoration in 1936. The panel is signed and dated on the step of the throne: PETRUS LAURENTII ME PINXIT ANNO DOMINI MCCCXXVIII.

The predella comprised a series of five narrative paintings. Instead of taking their subject from the bible, these five paintings show events from the history of the Carmelite Order. A striking feature of the overall design of this altarpiece is the very wide central panel of the predella which allowed the painter to depict the consignment of the Carmelite rule in the early thirteenth century in a particularly detailed manner.