성전에 봉헌되는 동정 마리아

In the 1380s a Sienese painter named Niccolò di Buonaccorso was making objects small enough to hold in your hands. This little panel shows the young Mary climbing the temple steps, and it was never meant to hang alone. It once belonged to a set of three scenes from the life of the Virgin, and the other two survive. The Marriage of the Virgin is now in London, the Coronation in New York. All three carry the same decorated pattern painted on their backs, which tells us they were built to fold and be seen from both sides, more a portable devotion than a wall picture. Niccolò worked in a miniaturist's technique, patient and precise, tooling the gold ground so it catches the light as you move. The steps Mary climbs rise at a steep tilt that pushes your eye straight up to the priest waiting at the top.