Crucified Christ with donors

Ugolino di Nerio was the closest follower of the great Sienese painter Duccio. However, none of the documents which mention him refer to works of art, and it has proved difficult to reconstruct his career. This delicately painted and expressive panel was probably the central part of the predella section of an altarpiece. Christ is shown nailed to the cross. Blood pours from his wounds. He is flanked by the presumed donors of the lost altarpiece: a Carmelite friar and a woman with her young son, who kneels before her.