Madonna and Child (from Lucignano d'Arbia)

A great deal has been written about the iconography of the Madonna from Lucignano d’Arbia, very unusual in Sienese painting. Mary is shown looking to the right, instead of to the left, and she holds a Child who is not yet a “puer” (as was the case in all the earlier paintings) but still an “infans” in swaddling clothes. The reason that led Simone to choose this iconography has yet to be explained, and it may have been a specific request from the client; but scholars do agree on the attribution of the panel to Simone.