The Trinity

Domenico di Michelino's The Trinity, painted around 1450 and now in the Detroit Institute of Arts, depicts the central Christian mystery of the three-in-one God — typically represented as God the Father enthroned, the crucified Son before him, and the Holy Spirit as a dove between them in a configuration known as the Throne of Grace or Gnadenstuhl. Domenico di Michelino is best known for his 1465 painting of Dante with the Divine Comedy in Florence Cathedral, one of the most important secular-memorial paintings of the Florentine quattrocento. This earlier Trinity panel demonstrates his devotional work and his training within the Florentine workshop tradition inherited from Fra Angelico.

Tempera on panel with gold ground. The Trinity is rendered in the classic Throne of Grace configuration with God the Father as an imposing seated figure holding the crucified Christ before him while the dove of the Holy Spirit hovers between them.