(active in Florence in the last third of the 14th Century)
A triptych: the central panel with the Madonna and Child with Saint Nicholas of Bari, Saint Peter, A monk saint, Saint Anthony Abbot, Saint Andrew (?), and Saint John the Evangelist (?); the wings with the Crucifixion, the Madonna and Saint John on the right, Saint Christopher, Saint Benedict and a bishop saint on the left and the Annunciation above,
tempera on gold ground panel, shaped top, in an integral frame, central panel 34.5 x 19cm, the wings 34.5 x 9.5 cm

Provenance:
European private collection

We are grateful to Professor Alessandro Tomei for confirming the attribution to the Master of Lazzaroni Madonna after examining the painting in the original and for his assistance in the cataloguing of this lot (written communication, 16 February 2013).
We are also grateful to Professor Sonia Chiodo for independently confirming the attribution to the Master of Lazzaroni Madonna on the basis of a digital photograph.

First named by Offner as the “Master of the Two Madonnas” (see R. Offner, A Legacy of Attribution, edited by H.Maginnis, New York 1981, p. 37-38), this anonymous Florentine Master according to Klara Steinweg was later renamed by Offner himself, who identified him as the author of the Madonna and Child with Two Angels then in the Lazzaroni collection in Paris. Miklòs Boskovits attributed other works to the Master (see M. Boskovits, Pittura fiorentina alla vigilia del Rinascimento, Firenze 1975, p. 239-240, note 169) such as the Crowning of the Madonna among eight Saints and six Angels from the Acton collection (Milan, Museo Diocesano; see Fondi oro. Una collezione per Milano, exhibition catalogue, 1999-2000, p.52-53) and the fresco with the Allegorical figures of the Virtues in the Palazzo Comunale of San Miniato (see S. Chiodo, Gli affreschi della chiesa di San Domenico a San Miniato: un capitolo poco noto della pittura fiorentina fra Tre e Quattrocento (parte I), in “Arte Cristiana” XCVI, 2008, p. 35-48). These works, together with a Madonna with Child and Saints, Crucifixion and Annunciation in Venice (Fondazione Cini) all display stylistic similarities with the present triptych. Active in the latter half of the 14th Century, the artist appears to have trained in the workshop of Jacopo di Cione, called l’Orcagna, and was later influenced by Andrea Bonaiuti and Cenni di Francesco.