Tuscan craftsmen, Mosaics with Prophets (railings of the matroneum)

The parapets of the women's gallery are ornamented by panels in mosaic, from the first decade of the fourteenth century, by Lippo di Beniveni and a master of the circle of the Master of San Gaggio (commonly identified as Grifo di Tancredi). Each panel, against a gold background, shows a prophet, some identified by separate inscriptions, others by the scrolls they hold. The surviving mosaics total 36: six on each side, except at the apse on the east, and on the west, where they were removed in the 1700s.

Starting from the southwest and proceeding from left to right, we find:

- southwest - Moses, Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Enoch, Elijah;

- south - Baruch, Noah, Joshua, Samuel, Elisha and Simon "son of Onias";

- southeast - Joshua son of Jozadak Zorobabel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Judas Maccabaeus and Mattathias;

- northeast - Solomon, David, Malachi, Zechariah, Haggai, Zephaniah;

- north - Habakkuk, Nahum, Micah, Jonah, Obadiah, Amos;

- northwest - Joel, Hosea, Ezekiel, Daniel, Jeremiah and Isaiah.

These are the persons who, in their earthly existence, came before the age of salvation, but prepared the world for its coming. Ideally, as celestial presences, they are witness to liturgy and prepare to welcome the baptised in Heaven.