King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba
Master of Lecceto·1450
Historical Context
The Master of Lecceto was a Sienese painter named after works in the Augustinian hermitage of Lecceto near Siena, active around 1450. This panel of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba features the richly embossed and gilt ornament typical of mid-fifteenth-century Sienese painting, which maintained Gothic decorative traditions longer than any other Italian school. The meeting of Solomon and Sheba was a popular subject symbolizing wisdom and royalty.
Technical Analysis
The tempera on wood with embossed and gilt ornament demonstrates the lavish decorative technique of the Sienese school with raised, tooled gesso creating three-dimensional surface effects. The combination of painted figures with ornamental metalwork reflects the Sienese tradition of treating paintings as precious objects.
