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Imago Pietatis

Maestro di San Lucchese 1350-1360

The small painted panel, gilded and decorated with punches, depicts the Imago pietatis, i.e. the figure of Christ in pity, the wounded and bleeding body standing outside the tomb. This exquisite work, most likely intended for private devotion, is of uncertain attribution. Its author was first identified as the so-called Master of the Strauss Madonna, then as the anonymous Master of San Lucchese.

Technical information

Author: Maestro di San Lucchese
Title: Imago Pietatis
Date: 1350-1360
Material and technique: Tempera and gold on panel
Size: 30,8x22,7 cm
Location: Palazzo Pretorio Museum
First Floor

Through stylistic comparisons with works by the Master of San Lucchese, it was also possible to assign this small painting to him. The expressive sensitivity, the tapered and delicate rendering of the hands, the roundness in the face, as well as the line of the brushstrokes forming a grid recall the school of Giotto, but also the features of Andrea and Nardo di Cione.
Studies have not yet ascertained whether the panel was a stand-alone work or rather a fragment of a diptych, of which one valve is said to have been lost (or is yet to be found).
It originated from the Santa Caterina Conservatory and entered the municipal collections in 1978.