Room 65

Gold backgrounds can catch light as you change position. Against them, a small movement of a hand or the closeness of two faces can carry the emotion of a religious story. These are among the earliest paintings in the collection, made in central Italy during the 1200s and early 1300s. Some were intended for private devotion, others for an altar or a procession. Painters and their patrons increasingly stressed the human experiences of Christ and those around him, including affection, grief and suffering. Compare a small panel with a larger image, and consider who would have stood before it and how close they could have come.