Jeff's Met Picks: Duccio

Madonna and Child

Duccio di Buoninsegna  (Italian, active by 1278–died 1318 Siena)

The "Duccio," often nicknamed "The Mona Lisa of The Met" is the museum's most expensive acquisition. The previous Director of The Metroploitan Museum of Art, Phillipe de Montebello, made it a personal mission of his to acquire this masterpiece and raised the $4.5 million dollars it took to purchase it. It is a small devotional painting, remarkably small for it's price, and one that for centuries was placed behind votive candles for the intercession of prayer. In fact, one can see scorch marks along the bottom of the frame which is the original. (It is a minor miracle this painting never went up in flames!) Prior to Duccio, one never saw an interaction between Madonna and Child in this type of painting. But that one simple gesture of the Christ-child, gently sweeping away the veil on his Mother's head, turned the entire art world on it's head. God truly brought down to earth in this human gesture of affection. For this innovation, this painting is sometimes christened "the birth of Western Art."