Triptych of the Throne of Grace

Nardo di Cione, brother of Orcagna and a leading Florentine painter of the 1350s and 1360s, created this Triptych of the Throne of Grace around 1365 for the Galleria dell'Accademia. The Throne of Grace, or Gnadenstuhl, depicts God the Father supporting the crucified Christ with the Holy Spirit as a dove — a Trinitarian image that gained wide currency in Gothic art. Nardo's treatment exemplifies the grave, hieratic style that characterized Florentine painting in the decades following the Black Death.

Executed in tempera and gold on panel, the central Trinitarian image is flanked by saints in the triptych wings, all set against tooled gold grounds. Nardo's style features the broad, firmly drawn figures and restrained palette characteristic of the Cione workshop, with meticulous attention to the ornamental gold tooling.