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Three panels by Niccolò di Buonaccorso share the same dimensions, frame mouldings, pastiglia (an Italian term meaning "pastework") spandrels and pattern on the back, silvered, painted and punched. The panels are The Marriage of the Virgin (National Gallery, London), the Presentation of the Virgin (Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence), and the Coronation of the Virgin (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York). It is not entirely clear how, or even whether, the panels were originally joined together; the elaborately decorated sides must have been intended to be visible.
This scene is from one of the apocryphal gospels recounting the life of the Virgin. This precious panel with a gold background depicts an episode from the childhood of the Virgin Mary. In the centre of the composition, it is possible to see the young girl being presented to the old priest in the temple, while, at the bottom of the stairs, her parents, Anne and Joachim affectionately watch the solemn meeting in the company of several people; behind a parapet at the height of the altar there is a group of girls who are attending the scene.
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