Baptism of Constantine by Pope Sylvester I (left part of the triptych)

Andrea di Giusto, who combined late Gothic elegance with early Renaissance spatial innovations, created this work around 1450, now in the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. This work reflects the artistic culture of Florence during the Early Renaissance, when painters were forging new approaches to representation through the study of perspective, anatomy, and natural light. This work belongs to the Early Renaissance, the transformative period in European art when painters first applied mathematical perspective, naturalistic figure modeling, and archaeological interest in antiquity to the inherited traditions of medieval devotional painting.

The hinged triptych structure allows for a layered viewing experience, with exterior grisaille or simpler imagery giving way to the richly colored interior scenes when the wings are opened for worship.