SASSETTA
(b. 1394, Siena, d. 1450, Siena)

Founding of Santa Maria Maggiore

1430-32
Panel, 33 x 29 cm
Galleria Palatina (Palazzo Pitti), Florence

Quite unlike the hieratic aura of the main scene, this predella panel of the Madonna delle Nevi (Madonna of the Snows) recording the miracle of the snow in founding of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, is full of naturalistic elements, and even the arrangement and presentation of the figures is casual and almost journalistic. Although the condition of the predella is not as good as that of the main panel, the atmospheric environment created for the outdoor scene is still legible.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.