The Black Death struck in Italy in 1349, followed by an economic crisis that brought about a sharp break in sculptural activity, so that, with the exception of Andrea Orcagna's shrine in the Orsanmichele in Florence, the sculptural scene remained extremely barren until the closing decade of the century.

Orcagna - a painter, sculptor and architect - was commissioned to execute the only the mammoth tabernacle for Orsanmichele. This Gothic marble structure, rather like a miniature church, was a religious and civic edifice built to house Bernardo Daddi's repainting of a lost image of the Virgin and Child. Hexagonal reliefs of the virtues and octagonal reliefs of the Life of the Virgin alternate on its base. The programme culminates in the large relief on the back, the Dormition and Assumption of the Virgin, where the work is signed and dated 1359.

Preview	Picture Data	File Info	Comment
	Tabernacle 1359 Marble, lapis lazuli, gold and glass inlay Orsanmichele, Florence	1026*1600 True Color 269 Kb
	Tabernacle 1359 Marble, lapis lazuli, gold and glass inlay Orsanmichele, Florence	879*1200 True Color 230 Kb
	Tabernacle 1359 Marble, lapis lazuli, gold and glass inlay Orsanmichele, Florence	1275*1700 True Color 284 Kb
	Tabernacle (detail) 1359 Marble, lapis lazuli, gold and glass inlay Orsanmichele, Florence	1600*1067 True Color 272 Kb
	Tabernacle: Dormition and Assumption of the Virgin 1359 Marble, lapis lazuli, gold and glass inlay Orsanmichele, Florence	1300*1090 True Color 273 Kb
	Tabernacle: Dormition and Assumption of the Virgin 1359 Marble, lapis lazuli, gold and glass inlay Orsanmichele, Florence	869*1003 True Color 249 Kb
	Tabernacle: Assumption of the Virgin 1359 Marble, lapis lazuli, gold and glass inlay Orsanmichele, Florence	1600*1089 True Color 292 Kb
	Tabernacle: Dormition 1359 Marble, lapis lazuli, gold and glass inlay Orsanmichele, Florence	1550*1011 True Color 286 Kb
	Tabernacle: Dormition (detail) 1359 Marble, lapis lazuli, gold and glass inlay Orsanmichele, Florence	2000*1348 True Color 241 Kb
	Tabernacle: Allegory of Prudence 1359 Marble, lapis lazuli, gold and glass inlay Orsanmichele, Florence	1605*2000 True Color 228 Kb
	Tabernacle (detail) 1359 Marble, lapis lazuli, gold and glass inlay Orsanmichele, Florence	1201*2000 True Color 225 Kb
	Tabernacle (detail) 1359 Marble, lapis lazuli, gold and glass inlay Orsanmichele, Florence	2000*1242 True Color 287 Kb
	Tabernacle (detail) 1359 Marble, lapis lazuli, gold and glass inlay Orsanmichele, Florence	1300*975 True Color 261 Kb
	Tabernacle (detail) 1359 Marble, lapis lazuli, gold and glass inlay Orsanmichele, Florence	1200*1600 True Color 246 Kb
	Tabernacle (detail) 1359 Marble, lapis lazuli, gold and glass inlay Orsanmichele, Florence	2000*1500 True Color 291 Kb
	Tabernacle (detail) 1359 Marble, lapis lazuli, gold and glass inlay Orsanmichele, Florence	1500*1125 True Color 293 Kb
	Tabernacle (detail) 1359 Marble, lapis lazuli, gold and glass inlay Orsanmichele, Florence	1275*1700 True Color 253 Kb
	Tabernacle (detail) 1359 Marble, lapis lazuli, gold and glass inlay Orsanmichele, Florence	1460*1800 True Color 263 Kb
	Tabernacle (detail) 1359 Marble, lapis lazuli, gold and glass inlay Orsanmichele, Florence	1200*1026 True Color 195 Kb
	Tabernacle (detail) 1359 Marble, lapis lazuli, gold and glass inlay Orsanmichele, Florence	900*1111 True Color 84 Kb
	Tabernacle: St Michael the Archangel 1359 Marble, lapis lazuli, gold and glass inlay Orsanmichele, Florence	1067*1600 True Color 100 Kb
	Tabernacle: Annunciation of the Death of the Virgin 1359 Marble on mosaic background Orsanmichele, Florence	890*1300 True Color 189 Kb
	Tabernacle: Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple 1359 Marble on mosaic background Orsanmichele, Florence	1363*2000 True Color 285 Kb
	Tabernacle: Birth of the Virgin 1359 Marble on mosaic background Orsanmichele, Florence	950*1138 True Color 175 Kb