Lot 45: * MASTER OF THE MISERICORDIA ACIIVE IN THE THIRD QUARTER OF THE 14TH CENTURY

CORONATION OF THE VIRGIN, WITH SAINTS CATHERINE, MATTHEW, JOHN THE BAPTIST, PETER, PAUL, A BISHOP SAINT (NICHOLAS OF BARI?) AND A MARTYRED FEMALE SAINT

29 1/8 by 19 in.; 74.5 by 48.2 cm.

gold ground, tempera on panel

Miklos Boskovits was the first scholar to identify the present painting as a work by the Master of the Misericordia.

This hitherto unpublished Coronation of the Virgin is an important addition to the oeuvre of this Florentine Master. The artist, christened by Offner after a Madonna of Mercy in the Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence (inv. 8562), was active in the third quater of the 14th Century. His early works betray the influence of Taddeo Gaddi and of Bernardo Daddi, and in fact he has been tentatively linked to Giovanni Gaddi, the son of Taddeo and brother of Agnolo Gaddi. While this connection can remain only tentative given the lack of any secure work by Giovanni, it seems a reasonable supposition, as the Master's works appear to bridge the styles of Taddeo and Agnolo rather effectively.

The present painting can be compared to another work by the Master of the Misericordia, depicting an Evangelist (see Un milanese che parlava toscano, Lamberto Vitali e la sua collezione, exhibition catalogue, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, 2001, cat. no. 57). In that painting, design elements on the book stand the Evangelist is writing on are identical to those on the upper part of the throne in the present work.