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Jesus sits on his mother's lap, in the presence of angels, issuing blessings and holding a small bird, considered a symbol of the human soul. At the top, in the frame, two angels are crowning Mary as queen. The throne, which consists of cushions and a drape of honour, has lost all architectural connotations to become a precious, decorated casket. At the sides, four saints, Benedict, Peter, John the Baptist and Miniatus, are depicted with a crown, sceptre, and lilies. The saints are much smaller than the figures in the central panel.
The altarpiece is, in fact, the result of a modern assembly of two separate works by Agnolo Gaddi, a major exponent of Late Gothic painting in Florence. The original destination of the central painting with the Virgin and Child is unknown, while the side paintings with saints come from a polyptych possibly painted for the church of San Miniato in Florence, which originally featured the enthroned Madonna in the centre. The saint holding a crozier is perhaps the founder of western monasticism, Benedict. Under his cope, he wears a white tunic, identical to those worn by the Olivetan Benedictine monks who lived in the Florentine monastery from 1373. The apostle Peter, next to St Benedict, is holding a book, inscribed with a phrase from the Last Supper: DOMINE TECUM PARATUS SUM ET IN CARCEREM ET IN MORTEM IRE (Lk, 22:33; And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death).
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