Maestà of Santa Trinita

Cimabue painted this large panel around 1280-1290 for the main altar of the Vallombrosan Church of Santa Trinita in Florence. The Virgin Mary sits enthroned with the Christ Child, surrounded by eight angels. Four prophets appear in half-length portraits at the base, holding scrolls that allude to the Incarnation and Mary's virginity.

The throne is depicted from an innovative frontal view with a sense of three-dimensional depth unusual for the time. Though Cimabue worked within Byzantine traditions, the throne's architectural mass and the gentle expressions on the Virgin and angels hint at the naturalism that would define younger artists like Giotto, his own pupil.

The painting lost favor as styles changed, eventually being removed from Santa Trinita and passed between locations. It reached the Galleria dell'Accademia in the early 19th century and transferred to the Uffizi in 1919. Today it hangs in a room with two other monumental Maestà paintings by Duccio and Giotto, allowing direct comparison of three masters who shaped Italian art.