This and the related panel of 'Saint Peter' by an unidentified Sienese painter are from the right side of a polyptych. A third panel exists showing Saint Paul (private collection).
It has been suggested that the centre panel is the Virgin and Child once in the Palazzo Venezia, Rome (from which the painter takes his name), now in the Galleria Nazionale, Rome. Mary Magdalene holds a pot of ointment with which she anointed Christ's feet. Saint Peter's keys are of gold and silver leaf.
