Burial of Christ (top); Descent from the Cross (bottom)

This double-register panel showing the Burial of Christ above and the Descent from the Cross below belongs to the Passion narrative on the reverse of Duccio's Maestà (1308–1311). These scenes depict the most emotionally charged moments of Christ's Passion, and Duccio treated them with an unprecedented psychological depth that influenced all subsequent Sienese painting. Now in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Siena, these panels demonstrate how Duccio transformed the static conventions of Byzantine art into living, breathing narrative drama.

Egg tempera and gold on poplar panel. Duccio organizes the mourning figures with remarkable spatial clarity across two narrative registers, using expressive hand gestures, inclined heads, and subtle color contrasts to convey profound grief.