The 'Allegory of Redemption' (Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena) is one of the most enigmatic of Ambrogio Lorenzetti's works. While standing out for its extraordinary figurative originality, in parallel with the results of the famous cycle of the Sala dei Nove (1338), the panel presents a highly articulated iconographic programme, somewhat difficult to decipher, and unconventional typological characteristics. These peculiarities have so far hindered a full understanding of the painting's function, as well as the identification of its patrons and original destination. The paper attempts to clarify these doubts, starting with a comprehensive re-reading of its iconography – in a less doctrinally involved way. The new interpretation of the meaning of the work, together with some internal clues – such as the peculiar representation of the Last Judgement –, could indicate that the panel had been commissioned by the most important lay confraternity of late medieval Siena, namely the “compagnia dei Disciplinati sotto le volte dell'Ospedale” of Santa Maria della Scala. This hypothesis seems to be corroborated not only by associations linking the work to the cultural horizon of the devout laity, but also by the close concordances that relate the painting to a particular genre of vulgar laudes, the laudes pro defunctis or de memoria mortis. Comparisons with such texts, sung in the course of funeral celebrations, suggest that the panel – here renamed 'Allegory of Death and Salvation' – might constitute the visual reference for the song, with the specific purpose of amplifying the admonitory and edifying immediacy of the laude.