Farewell Discourse

Gospel John 14.1-14
in the course of the Last Supper, after the foot washing and Judas’s departure
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my
Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a
place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that
where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ Thomas said to
him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the
way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will
know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’ Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show
us the Father, and we will be satisfied.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and do
you still not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak
on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the
Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you,
the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these,
because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.’

Duccio di Buoninsegna ( c. 1255–1260 – c. 1318–1319), commonly known as just Duccio, was an Italian painter active in Siena, Tuscany, in the late 13th and early 14th century. He was hired throughout his life to complete many important works in government and religious buildings around Italy. Duccio is considered one of the greatest Italian painters of the Middle Ages, and is credited with creating the painting styles of Trecento and the Sienese school. He also contributed significantly to the Sienese Gothic style. 

Duccio's known works are on wood panel, painted in egg tempera and embellished with gold leaf. Differently from his contemporaries and artists before him, Duccio was a master of tempera and managed to conquer the medium with delicacy and precision. Duccio's style was similar to Byzantine art in some ways, with its gold backgrounds and familiar religious scenes; however, it was also different and more experimental. Duccio began to break down the sharp lines of Byzantine art, and soften the figures.