St Ansanus

Of Sienese nobility, Ansanus became a Christian at the age of twelve and preached his faith until he was denounced by his father to the Emperor Diocletian and was martyred at the age of twenty in the year 303. In his right hand he holds a palm branch, symbolizing his martyrdom, and in his left he holds Siena's official black and white banner – the balzana – signifying his status as patron saint of the city. The nuanced modeling of his fingers as they grasp the staff attests to the artist's achievements in capturing naturalistic effects. This half-length figure of the saint closely recalls a full-length version that appears in Simone Martini's Annunciation altarpiece of 1333 (in the Uffizi, Florence).

The present painting formed part of a five-panel polyptych that included, from left to right, St Ansanus (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), St Peter (Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid), the present Madonna and Child, Saint Andrew (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) and St Luke (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles).

Unusually for an altarpiece, the panels are all rectangular - not gabled - and they are all of the same size (in traditional Italian altarpieces the centre panel is invariable wider than the lateral ones by approximately one third). Curiously, there is no sign that the panels were hinged together, and this may be important for understanding the function of the altarpiece, as unhinged panels could be re-combined according to need.

The panels are attributed to Simone Martini, and they probably formed an altarpiece commissioned from Simone in 1326 for the Palazzo Pubblico.