Madonna and Child with Angels and saints

This Madonna and Child with Angels and Saints by the Maestro di Tressa, dating to around 1240, is preserved in the Palazzo Chigi-Saracini in Siena. The Maestro di Tressa is considered the earliest distinct artistic personality in Sienese painting, active in the second quarter of the 13th century. This multi-figure composition with attending saints and angels represents an ambitious expansion of the simple devotional icon toward the more complex sacra conversazione format.

Executed in tempera and gold leaf on panel, the work arranges the central Madonna and Child in a strict frontal hierarchy with flanking figures in symmetrical tiers. The gold ground, rigid poses, and stylized drapery patterns reflect strong Byzantine influence, while the scale and complexity of the composition indicate growing ambitions in Sienese panel painting.