Test your knowledge with this overview of select works of art from the 13th- through 15th-centuries and the museums where they currently reside.

Where does each of these paintings reside today?

“The Santa Trinita Madonna” by Cimabue

In this painting (c. 1280-1285), Cimabue – the last great painter of the Byzantine period even as he moved toward a pioneering use of naturalism, life-like proportions, and shading – shows Mary posed gracefully and holding her son in her arms while surrounded by adoring angels all on a gold background. The work resides at the Uffizi in Florence.

“The Maestà” by Duccio

The Maestà (1308-1311), commissioned by the Siena Cathedral, is probably the most important altarpiece panel ever painted in Italy. Certainly it is among the most elaborate and stunning: within this one altarpiece is the equivalent of a church’s entire production of fresco paintings. Viewers can visit it in the cathedral museum – Museo dell’Opera del Duomo – in Siena.

“Saint Louis of Toulouse Crowning the King” by Simone Martini

Simone was most likely a pupil of Duccio. This work (1317), considered one of Simone’s major works, today, resides in the Museo di Capodimonte, Naples.

“Scenes from the Life of Mary” by Melchior Broederlam

Known as the Dijon Altarpiece (1393-1399), this work – done in tempera on wood – features four biblical scenes: on the left, the Annunciation and Visitation; on the right, the Presentation of Christ and the flight into Egypt. It can be seen in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Dijon.

“The Wilton Diptych”

This altarpiece (c. 1395-1399), a rare survival of late English Medieval religious painting, was painted for King Richard II of England who is shown kneeling before the Virgin and Child. The work hangs in the National Gallery, London.

"The Madonna with Canon van der Paele” by Jan van Eyck

In this painting (1436), the artist depicts exquisite brocades, silks, and furs in an extraordinarily lifelike way. It resides in Groeningemuseum, Bruges.

“The St. Lucy Altarpiece” by Domenico Veneziano

This panel (c. 1445) is Veneziano’s most celebrated work. It hangs in the Uffizi, Florence.

“The Last Judgment” by Rogier van der Weyden

Burgundian chancellor Nicolas Rolin, one of the richest and most powerful men at the time, commissioned this work (c. 1450), generally known as the Beaune Altarpiece, for the hospital he founded for the poor and the sick. The work can be seen today in the same location in the Musee de l’Hotel-Dieu, Beaune.

“The Pieta de Villeneuve-les-Avignon” by Enguerrand Quarton

A masterpiece of French painting of the 15th century (1456) that hangs in Louvre, Paris.

“The Hunt in the Forest” by Paolo Uccello

The scene (1460s), with a shape much wider than tall, most likely was meant as a decoration for a linen chest. It is labeled “nocturnal” because of the strange moonlight that falls on the elegant figures of the hunters scattered in the dark forest. It hangs in Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

“The Flagellation” by Piero della Francesca

This painting (1460) is one of the most famous pictures of the early Renaissance. Today it can be viewed in the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche in Urbino.

“The Pearl of Brabant Triptych” by Gerard David

This triptych (c. 1470), called “The Pearl” because of its exquisite beauty, shows the Adoration of the Magi in the center with a panel on the left showing St. John the Baptist in the wilderness and a panel on the right of St. Christopher crossing a river. It hangs in Alte Pinakothek, Munich.

“The Portinari Altarpiece” by Hugo van der Goes

This work (1476-1479), with its masterful use of the oil medium, was commissioned by Tommaso Portinari, the representative of the House of Medici in Bruges, for the church of the Hospital of Sta Maria Nuova in Florence. Today it hangs in the Uffizi in Florence.

“The Lamentation over the Dead Christ” by Andrea Mantegna

This painting (c. 1480) portrays a common religious theme but, rather than with the previous medieval tendency toward symbolism, shows it in an innovative way of naturalistic realism peculiar to the Renaissance. It resides in Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan.

“The Vision of St. Bernard” by Filippino Lippi

St. Bernard was essential in establishing the cult of the Virgin, toward whom his devotion was particularly strong. Artist Lippi was only twenty when he created this painting (1480) – an exquisite celebration of youth and love that showcases the chaste beauty of the Virgin. The altarpiece is preserved at the Badia of Florence.

Sources:

• Bailey, Colin J. The Art Quiz Book: 2000+ Questions on Painters and Paintings. Station Press: Scotland, 1995.
• Grove Dictionary of Art. Oxford University Press, 2006.