Lot 46: Bicci di Lorenzo Florence 1373 - 1452 , A portable triptych: Central panel: The Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist and Catherine; Wings: Christ on the way to Calvary with the Angel of the Annunciation above; the Crucifixion with the

tempera on panel, gold ground, pointed top, within an integral frame

measurements note central panel, overall: 50 by 26.5 cm.; 19 3/4 by 10 1/2 in. central panel, painted surface: 32 by 17 cm.; 12 5/8 by 6 3/4 in. wings, overall (each): 46.5 by 14 cm.; 18 1/4 by 5 1/2 in. wings, painted surface (each): 46.5 by 12.3

Noel Sale, Paris, Petit, 27 May 1924, lot 3;
Kay sale, London, Christie's, 23 May 1930, lot 90, where bought by Willis;
Acquired then or shortly afterwards by the father of the present owner;
Thence by descent.

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
Bicci di Lorenzo belonged to one of three generations of painters working in Florence in the 14th and 15th centuries: he was the son and pupil of Lorenzo di Bicci (d.1427) and the father of Neri di Bicci (1419-1491). Bicci di Lorenzo's early works are influenced by the late Gothic style of his father, whose workshop he took over and continued to run after the latter's death. Bicci di Lorenzo became a member of the Guild of St. Luke in 1424 and it was also around the same time that Gentile da Fabriano visited the city and brought with him the bright colours, elegance and naturalism of the International Gothic style. This small portable triptych was almost certainly intended for private devotion. The delicate punchwork on the area surrounding the central panel suggests that it was once covered in gold leaf as well and indeed the portability of it may have led to the surface being slightly rubbed. The painting probably dates from Bicci di Lorenzo's maturity, that is to the 1420s, and the typology of the figures may be compared (albeit much smaller in scale) to those in a triptych showing The Madonna and Child enthroned with two music-making angels, flanked by Saints Bartholomew, John the Evangelist, Mary Magdalene and Anthony in the Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena, which is dated 1430.υ1 We are grateful to Everett Fahy and Prof. Miklós Boskovits for independently endorsing the attribution to Bicci di Lorenzo on the basis of photographs. Prof. Boskovits has proposed a date of execution of circa 1420. 1 Panel, 74 by 183 cm.; see R. Fremantle, Florentine Gothic Painters. From Giotto to Masaccio, A Guide to Painting in and near Florence 1300 to 1450, London 1975, reproduced on p. 476, fig. 989. The triptych in the Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena, is on loan from Vertine in Chianti.