35 - MASTER OF THE LAZZARONI MADONNA - Active in Florence around 1370

MASTER OF THE LAZZARONI MADONNA - Active in Florence around 1370 THE VIRGIN AND CHILD ON A THRONE between two angels, SAINT DOMINIC, SAINT JULIAN, SAINT PETER, SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST on the left, SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST, SAINT PAUL, SAINT ANTHONY THE ABBOT, and another saint on the right Tempera on a gold ground. Egg tempera on a gold ground on a trefoil-shaped wooden panel, surrounded by a carved and gilded wooden frame in the Gothic style. Height: 59 cm - Width: 29.7 cm (panel only) H. 74.5 cm; W. 33.5 cm overall Previous restorations Provenance: - Auction in Paris, Tajan Auction House, Hôtel Georges V, December 20, 1994, lot 2 (Master of the Lazzaroni Madonna). Appraiser: Eric Turquin; hammer price: 290,000 francs. The Virgin and Child are seated on an elevated throne placed in front of a rich drapery unfurled in the background and held in place by two angels. On either side of the throne, eight saints are arranged in two rows of four. As Professor Mina Gregori suggested during the Tajan auction, the execution of this small panel—intended for private devotion, the artist’s favored medium—must be attributed to the Master of the Lazzaroni Madonna. This painter was active in Florence during the second half of the 14th century. The work’s Florentine origin is further supported by the presence of Saint Julian, who was particularly venerated in the Tuscan city at that time. This anonymous master owes his conventional name to a Virgin and Child once held in the Lazzaroni collection in Paris, then in the Weitzner collection in New York (see D. Shorr, *The Christ Child in Devotional Images*, New York, 1954, type 29 Florence 5), before becoming part of the Kisters Collection in Kreuzlingen. Initially identified by Richard Offner as the “Master of the Two Madonnas,” this painter’s artistic identity was subsequently clarified by M. Boskovits (Pittura fiorentina alla vigilia del Rinascimento, Florence, 1975, pp. 239–240, no. 169, figs. 413–416). Boskovits dates his activity to the last third of the 14th century, within the stylistic tradition of Andrea Orcagna, and later that of Andrea da Firenze and Cenni di Francesco, with whom he collaborated on a fresco in the Town Hall of San Miniato. Orcagna’s influence is evident here in the deliberate negation of space and in the hieratic treatment of the figures’ lines. This rigid style is, however, tempered by vivid colors and the shimmering ornamentation of the clothing, drapery, and tapestries. Condition: On the reverse, cracks in the panel and traces of open galleries created by wood-boring insects. Painted surface: lifting, wear, and restorations. Expert: Stéphane Pinta, Turquin Gallery (viewing by appointment with the expert)