in 1285 duccio was asked to go to florence to paint an altarpiece of the madonna and child for the church of santa maria novella which had been rebuilt for the dominican friars. it was a very large church and for it, duccio painted the biggest ancient altarpiece of this type that is known. it is called the "rucellai madonna" because the rucellai, who were a very rich family, paid for the decoration of the main chapel of the church, where this altarpiece was hung in the 1600s.