(Tuscany, active in the first half of the 15th Century)
Madonna and Child, crowned by angels, with Saint Anthony the Abbot and Saint Catherine,
tempera on panel, 54 x 27 cm, pointed top, integral frame

Provenance:
International Antiques Fair, Florence, 1958 (as Andrea di Bartolo);
sale, San Marco Casa d’Aste, Venice, 21 October 2007, lot 80 (as Maestro di Montefoscoli [sic]);
sale, Dorotheum, Vienna, 15 April 2008, lot 28 (as Florentine School, 14th Century, with saleroom notice as Master of Montefloscoli);
where acquired by the present owner

The oeuvre of the Master of Montefloscoli was first classified by Richard Offner in 1933 (see R. Offner, The Mostra del Tesoro di Firenza Sacra II, in: The Burlington Magazine, vol. LXIII, 1933, p. 174, note 23) around a polyptych in the church of Santa Maria a Montefloscoli in Borgo San Lorenzo and the so called Ristonchi polyptych (therefore the master is also known as Master of Ristonchi; see R. Longhi, Fatti di Masolino e di Masaccio, in: Critica d’arte, vol. V, 1940, p. 183, note 19), conserved in the Museum of San Clemente in Pelago.

This anonymous master was mostly active in Tuscany, from Mugello to Val di Pesa and Lunigiana. His success was determined by the production of small altarpieces for private devotion as well as polyptychs, often depicting the Madonna and Child enthroned, surrounded by saints.

The present composition is dominated by the depiction of the Madonna standing on a pedestal, holding the Christ Child, and being crowned by angels with the Holy Spirit above. The central figures are flanked by two saints, Saint Anthony the Abbot with the T-shaped stick and bell on the left, and Saint Catherine with the Martyr’s palm and wheel on the right. The design of the figures corresponds to the characteristic of International Gothic: with elegant, dignified features, elongated forms and flowing lines, together with the emphasis on the increasingly three-dimensional robes falling in roundish draperies. Further attention is paid to the details, as seen in the geometrical pattern on the pedestal, the graphic decoration of the robes’ golden borders, and the punch marks in the halos and the crown. By staggering the figures on the panel, the artist creates spatial depth and applies the achievements of the still young central perspective.