This wide-ranging book brings together a rich array of current approaches to panel painting of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, a period that has received far less attention than the Renaissance. From the middle of the thirteenth century onward, Italy witnessed a boom in panel painting. This brought about the transformation of existing object types, including painted crosses, altar frontals, and monumental panels of the Virgin and Child. It also fueled the development of new types of panel painting, particularly various forms of altarpieces, lunette-shaped panels for architectural settings, small-scale panels for personal devotion, and painted chests for private homes.

The international gathering of curators, art historians, and conservators who contribute to this volume discuss specific types of panel paintings, and they also examine local traditions, individual artistic solutions, patronage, production, use, iconography, and the relationship of panel painting to other art forms. Among the broader issues they address are liturgy, aesthetics, the perception and function of religious imagery, and style.