Simone Martini achieved unprecedented fame in his own lifetime. His painting Virgin and Child with Saints is featured in the Gardner's exhibition Metal of Honor: Gold from Simone Martini to Contemporary Art. Virgin and Child with Saints is his largest surviving work outside of Italy and one of the earliest altarpieces in the museum. Delicate and otherworldly, with its finely tooled gold background, this polyptych (a multi-paneled altarpiece) comes from the Church of the Servites in Orvieto, Italy. Above the Virgin and Child is a victorious and blessing Christ, displaying his wounds; the saints to either side carry identifying attributes. On the pinnacles above the saints, angels hold symbols of the Crucifixion and summon the Last Judgment with their trumpets. This set of five pins features the faces of the Virgin Mary, Saint Paul, Saint Lucy, Saint Catherine, and Saint John the Baptist.Pins measure 3"DSimone Martini (Siena, about 1284 - 1344, Avignon), Virgin and Child with Saints, about 1320. Gold and tempera on panel. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.
