Agnolo Gaddi (14th century) – Madonna with child on throne and angels

pieve-di-san-lorenzo-agnolo-gaddi BORGO SAN LORENZO (pieve di San Lorenzo) – The large altarpiece is the central panel of a polyptych whose sides have gone missing, or otherwise not yet identified, and probably destined for the larger altar of the pieve. The wooden board still has an elaborate shaping that represents the remains of the original which must have richly adorned the polyptych, even with a complex gilded decoration, still visible on the base and on the upper arch. The gothic-style shaped elongated table represents the Madonna sitting on a throne draped with a richly woven fabric, holding a small bird in her right hand, with a very elegant gesture. The opposite hand supports the Child, light and almost completely free of weight, but dressed in an extremely sophisticated dress both for decoration and colors. Eight angels finally complete the scene, in which the stylistic influences of the Florentine painting of the late twentieth century are fully apparent. The painting can be dated between 1380 and 1385, and it is visible the particular style of its author, Agnolo Gaddi, whose extenuated, extreme sophistication, are characterised by decorative richness and the use of precious materials such as gold and lapis lazuli. The altarpiece, sometimes also assigned to a close follower of Agnolo Gaddi, the so-called “Compagno d’Agnolo”, represents a true masterpiece of the Florentine painting of the period, which truly aimed to emphasize, probably also in tune with the desire of the client, wealth and decorative profusion as well as the elegance and delicacy of formal language; the latter a specific detail of the influence of late-Gothic sensitivity that has now replaced the robust spatial and physical reality of the most ancient representations manufactured following Giotto’s style.