Feb 3
07 Icons, RELIGIOUS ART — Icons from the 14 and 15 Centuries, with footnotes — 5
A PORTABLE TRIPTYCH SHOWING THE MADONNA AND CHILD ENTHRONED WITH SAINTS, WITH THE ANNUNCIATION, NATIVITY, AND CRUCIFIXION DEPICTED ON THE WINGS
Tempera on panel, gold ground, pointed tops
central panel: 73.9 by 39.8 cm.; 29 by 15 5/8 in.
wings, each: 56.4 by 13.5 cm.; 22 1/8 by 5 1/2 in
Private collection
The arrangement and combination of subjects in this devotional triptych were common throughout the Florentine Trecento and early Quattrocento, a tried and tested formula which found its origin in Bernardo Daddi’s Bigallo Triptych of 1333, in the Museo del Bigallo, Florence. The left wing depicts the Nativity; the right wing shows the Crucifixion. The pinnacles above each wing form a single narrative representing the Annunciation. At centre, below a blessing Christ, the Virgin sits on a Gothic throne, adorned with a red and gold cloth of honour. A corporeal Christ Child sits upon her lap and, with an innovative gesture of tenderness, clutches her finger. Surrounding them are a group of six saints, which include John the Baptist and John the Evangelist.
Lorenzo di Bicci (c. 1350–1427) was an Italian painter of the Florentine school, traditional in outlook. He is believed to have learned his trade from his father, about whom little other than his name, Bicci, is known. By 1370, Lorenzo was a member of the Guild of Saint Luke, the painters’ guild of Florence. Lorenzo’s earliest documented work, Saint Martin Enthroned, dates from 1380 and is now in the Depositi Galleria Arte in Florence. More on Lorenzo di Bicci
