Silver Altar of St James (side panels)
by LEONARDO DI SER GIOVANNI, Silver
The most interesting sculptural works undertaken during the last decades of the fourteenth century in Tuscany fall in the realm of metalwork and not of sculpture. These are the two silver altars for the cathedrals of Pistoia and Florence.
The Pistoia altar was ordered in 1287, was extended by Andrea di Jacopo d’Ognabene after 1316, and was amplified by the addition of side pieces between 1361 and 1367; it was again enlarged after 1381, and the upper part was added in 1394-96.
The picture shows the side panels with biblical stories of Mary.