ORCAGNA
(b. ca. 1308, Firenze, d. ca. 1368, Firenze)

Pentecost

1365-67
Tempera on wood, height 195 cm
Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence

The triptych with the Pentecost from Santi Apostoli, Florence, consists of three panels with round arches at the top, the middle one being taller and broader than those at the sides. Although incomplete, the frame has a pronounced architectural character with references to the triumphal arch. In terms of the treatment of the picture plane, the pictorial space and the scene depicted, the three panels are conceived as a unity. At the centre of the middle panel the Virgin kneels, apparently hovering, surrounded by six kneeling apostles, who are accompanied by three apostles in each of the side panels. Here, as in the Strozzi Altarpiece, Orcagna has achieved a rare harmony between the planar and spatial dimensions, between bodily presence and the spiritual realm. The influence of Giovanni da Milano is detectable in the style of the figures and in the use of colour, suggesting a date of around 1365-67.