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In the years 1333-34 Giovanni di Balduccio was again in Florence with an important assignment: the monumental marble tabernacle dedicated to the miraculous image of the Madonna of Orsanmichele. This tabernacle, represented in one of the nine miniatures in the manuscript Libro del Biadaiolo or Specchio Umano (Ms Tempi 3, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence), was replaced by the tabernacle of Orcagna, dated 1359.
From Giovanni di Balduccio's tabernacle survived a cycle of reliefs depicting the twelve Apostles with two Evangelists, a cycle with four reliefs depicting the Virtues (Orsanmichele and Bargello in Florence, National Gallery of Art, Washington) and a tympanum with Christ in a Mandorla (Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid).
In the works created during his stays in Florence and Bologna, the artist reached his artistic maturity.
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