Anna McGee

Orsanmichele market had many features of the pre-electronic exchange model, with its standardised measures and pricing, set hours and regulatory oversight, and the beginning and end of trading each day was even marked by the ringing of a bell. But the New York Stock Exchange doesn’t have an image of the Virgin Mary painted on the wall. The painting in Orsanmichele appeared overnight, out of nowhere, shortly after construction finished in 1290.

Jacopo’s San Pier Maggiore altarpiece was too large and cumbersome to fit onto a single wall in its original, three-tier configuration. For almost thirty years, the panels were arranged across two walls, the Coronation of the Virgin and attendant saints facing the other two tiers across the room. Displayed this way, the work lost not only a sense of its intended function but also much of its symbolism.