The Transfiguration

Christ stands at the centre of this small square panel. The moment shown is the Transfiguration, when Jesus ascended a mountain and became filled with heavenly light, shown here by the golden striations (stripes) on his robes. Suddenly the Old Testament prophets Moses (on his left) and Elijah (on his right) appeared and began to speak with him. God then spoke, singling out Christ as divinely favoured: ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.’

Jesus’s disciples, at the bottom of the mountain, raise their hands in fear, dazzled by the sight. This scene was the eighth of nine images that formed the back of the predella (lowest part) of the Maestà, a five-tiered, double-sided altarpiece. It was the focus of the devotion of the Virgin in Siena and it is the only known signed work by the city’s leading artist, Duccio di Buoninsegna.

Text: © The National Gallery, London

Painting photographed in its frame by Google Arts & Culture, 2023.