Lot 4: - Paolo Uccello , 1397 - 1475 The Madonna and child enthroned tempera on panel, gold ground, in an integral frame

Inscribed on the base of the frame: 'AVA.MARIA.GRACIA.PLENA.DO: ' tempera on panel, gold ground, in an integral frame

measurements note including frame: 101.5 by 58.5 cm.; 40 by 23 in. inside panel: 80.7 by 53.3 cm.; 31 3/4 by 21 in.

With Malmedy, Cologne, where acquired by Dr. Pickardt;
Dr. Pickardt until September 1967, when sold to the aunt of the previous owner (as by Francesco d'Antonio);
Their anonymous sale, London, Christie's, 11 July 2001, lot 69 where acquired by the present owner.

We are grateful to Everett Fahy for endorsing the attribution on inspection of the original, and for pointing out that the drawing of the drapery and the pose of the Madonna and Child are characteristic of Uccello's early flamboyant Gothic phase. Mr Fahy has drawn particular attention to the striking similarity born by the pose and execution to the midwife holding the newborn Mary in Uccello's fresco of The Birth of Mary in the Chapel of the Assunta, Prato cathedral. Further comparison may be made with the lunette of the Madonna and child, formerly in the Casa dei Beccuto and now in the Museo di San Marco, Florence.υ1 1. See A. Padoa Rizzo, La Cappella dell'Assunta nel Duomo di Prato, Prato 1997.