Polyptych with Coronation of the Virgin and Saints

In the central panel of this opulent polyptych, Christ crowns his mother, the Virgin Mary, as gathered angels and saints look on. The altarpiece stood in a chapel dedicated to Saint Benedict in the Church of Santa Trinità, Florence.



The altarpiece's various panels do not depict episodes in chronological order. In the pinnacles above the central scene, which were added at a later date, the archangel Gabriel announces the conception of Christ to the Virgin. Below, in the predella, the row of scenes in the lowest register, the Virgin's death is represented at the center. On the far left, Saint Benedict exorcises a devil, and in the panel alongside Saint John baptizes Christ. To the right of the Virgin's death, devils torment Saint Anthony, while on the far right Saint Lawrence liberates a soul from purgatory.



Cenni di Francesco di Ser Cenni used lavish amounts of gold leaf and different types of punch marks and tooling to describe the haloes and sumptuous fabrics. He took great pains to include details such as attributes for saints on the side wings and landscapes in most of the predella panels. Placed on an altar, the opulence of this altarpiece inspired awe in fourteenth-century Christian worshippers and offered an elaborate backdrop during the celebration of Mass.