Trittico del Giudizio Universale, dell'Ascensione e della Pentecoste

In 1447 the Dominican friar known as Fra Angelico was working in Rome for the pope, decorating a private chapel in the Vatican and, that summer, a cathedral ceiling in Orvieto. Around the same time he made this small triptych in egg tempera and gold. Three moments sit side by side: Christ rising into heaven, the Last Judgment in the centre with the saved and the damned sorted to either hand, and the Holy Spirit descending on the apostles at Pentecost, the dove sharply foreshortened overhead. Scholars once doubted the three panels belonged together, but the pairing turns up elsewhere and follows a clear doctrinal thread. A recent cleaning brought back the bright colour and fine gold detail the friar was known for.