The Blessed Ambrogio Sansedoni (1220–1286)

In the pictureA man stands within a narrow panel with a pointed arch tooled into its gold ground. Over his tonsured head he wears a black hood, and between the edges of his black cloak a white habit reaching to his feet shows. In one hand he holds a book with a red cover, and with the other he grasps the edge of his cloak. His halo is rendered not as a round disk but as fine lines incised in a radiating pattern into the gold, and behind his head, on the right side of the picture, a small white bird faintly flies in. Beneath his feet is a reddish brown floor. The outer gold frame is the original frame, made in one piece with the panel.

BackgroundAmbrogio Sansedoni (1220–1286) was a Dominican friar from Siena who won renown for his preaching and diplomacy and was venerated as a Blessed in his hometown. The white habit and black cloak are the dress of the Dominican order, and the bird flying in near his ear appears to be a dove, included to signify the Holy Spirit inspiring his words. The Sienese painter Giovanni di Paolo (1398–1482) painted it in 1447–65, and with the frame it measures 52.4×17.8 cm. It forms a pair with The Blessed Andrea Gallerani in the same museum. The painted surface alone measures 48.9×12.4 cm.

Puzzle tipIt divides neatly into three colors: the white habit, the black cloak, and the gold leaf. Fit the face, the red book, and the hand holding the cloak first, and join the white robe from top to bottom following the shadows of its folds. Surround the outside with the curved pieces of the arch at the top and the reddish gold frame on both sides, and the gold pieces narrow down. The halo is only fine incised lines with no outline, so among the gold pieces, those showing radiating lines belong around the head. 24 or 48 pieces suits it.