Reconfiguration of the back of the Maesta Altarpiece of Siena

This reconstruction of the back of the Maestà altarpiece by Duccio di Buoninsegna documents one of the most complex and important works of medieval Italian art. Completed in 1311 for Siena Cathedral, the Maestà's reverse featured an unprecedented multi-scene Passion cycle that was dismembered in 1771, with panels subsequently scattered across international collections. Scholarly reconstructions remain essential for understanding the altarpiece's original narrative program.

The original panels were executed in egg tempera and gold leaf on poplar wood in the Sienese workshop tradition. Duccio's refined technique combined Byzantine formal grandeur with a new sensitivity to spatial depth, emotional expression, and the rhythmic interplay of color and line across the multi-paneled structure.