VECCHIETTA
(b. 1410, Siena, d. 1480, Siena)

View of the Sacristy

1446-49
Fresco
Chiesa della Santissima Annunziata, Ospedale di Santa Maria della Scala, Siena

Vecchietta worked in both miniature and monumental styles, so that works carried out in the same years for the sacristy of the Ospedale di Santa Maria della Scala, Siena, show differing forms of expression. The painted panels of the sacristy's reliquary cabinet are by at least two artists, but those on the exterior bearing local Sienese saints are closer to Vecchietta's style: Blessed Agostino Novello and Blessed Catherine of Siena are certainly autograph panels. Although damaged, the frescoes of 1446-49 show a contrasting spaciousness. Christ blessing, Evangelists, Doctors of the Church and Prophets are depicted on the vault of the sacristy, while on the walls are Old and New Testament scenes and the Last Judgement.