Ognissanti Madonna (Maesta)
Giotto di Bondone (about 1267 to 1337) · about 1300 to 1305
A huge altarpiece more than three metres tall shows the Virgin enthroned like a queen, holding the blessing Christ Child, while angels and saints gather on either side. The word Maesta means majesty, and the subject was a standard one in thirteenth century Italy. What makes this version a turning point is that the figures seem to have weight. Mary sits solidly inside a Gothic throne of inlaid marble, her knees press against her robe, and the angels kneeling in front hold vases of roses and lilies that you feel you could take from their hands. The gold ground is still there, but the people in front of it belong to our world.
Giotto painted this around 1305, in the same years as his frescoes in Padua, and you can compare it with the two older Maesta panels by Cimabue and Duccio hanging nearby. Look at the throne, drawn in a simple perspective with a canopy that projects toward you, and at the way the angels overlap so that space recedes. Mary's face is modelled with soft shadow rather than dark lines, and her white tunic shows through the transparent veil. The saints at the back are cut off by the throne, a bold way of suggesting a crowd.
The panel was made for the church of Ognissanti in Florence, home of the Humiliati order, and it stayed there for centuries before entering the Uffizi in 1919. Placed at the start of the museum's route, it announces the story the galleries will tell: the birth of naturalism in Italian painting. A memorable detail is the small step at the foot of the throne, painted so convincingly that it invites you to climb up into the picture.
Did You Know? When the panel was cleaned, restorers found that Giotto had scratched the pattern of the marble throne directly into the gold leaf.
Unlock the Full Guide
Read every room and listen to every work in all museums with premium.