SASSETA
Sienese active 1423, died 1450
The burning of a heretic
1423-26
tempera and gold leaf on wood panel
24.6 x 38.7 cm
Purchased with the assistance of the Government of Victoria 1976
E2-1976

Sassetta is noted for introducing to early fifteenth century painting a degree of emotional content which was a radical innovation for the time. In this regard he is a precursor and highly influential artist for the Renaissance artists who followed him.

This is one of seven predella panels of an altarpiece from Santa Maria del Carmine in Sienna, which was dismantled in about 1777, dispersed and partly lost.

The primary theme of the altarpiece is the Eucharist. However, the iconography of the painting is unclear. It has been argued that Sassetta was depicting an actual historic event - the burning of a heretic. Other scholars believe that the painting does not depict an actual event, but may rather allude to the fate of all heretics.

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