Virgin and Child with Saints

In 1477 Vecchietta succeeded in his petition of the previous year to build a burial chapel to his own design for himself and his wife in Santa Maria della Scala, the church of the Ospedale della Scala, Siena. On the altar was placed the great bronze figure of the Risen Christ, which now adorns the high altar of the church. Behind hung his panel of the Virgin and Child with Sts Peter, Paul, Lawrence and Francis (now Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena), the two last being the name-saints of Vecchietta and his wife Francesca. It is remarkable that he signed the bronze as painter and the panel as sculptor, in a way that proclaims his mastery of both media and also their inter-reliance.

Despite the damaged condition of the painting, the original splendour of the figures grouped harmoniously within their golden apse can still be estimated.