Pact of Judas (top); Christ Taking Leave of the Apostles (bottom)

Duccio di Buoninsegna's Pact of Judas and Christ Taking Leave of the Apostles panels from the Maestà present two crucial narrative moments from the Last Supper sequence. The Pact of Judas, showing the betrayer receiving his payment of thirty silver coins from the chief priests, and the Farewell scene where Christ bids goodbye to the disciples before his Passion, were key moments in the Gospel narrative preceding the actual Passion. Duccio's narrative panels on the Maestà's reverse demonstrated a new level of psychological sophistication in the depiction of sacred history, each scene carefully observing the emotional states of multiple figures within a coherent spatial setting.

Painted in egg tempera with gold ground on poplar panel, the two scenes demonstrate Duccio's narrative sophistication in contrasting the treachery of Judas with the tenderness of Christ's farewell. His fluid drapery rhythms and subtle facial expressions reveal the Sienese Gothic mastery of emotional nuance.