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The work is dated and represents the Madonna and Child with angels and Saints John the Baptist, Victor, Bernard and Zenobius.
Executed for the Lesser Council Hall in Palazzo Vecchio, some critics have seen in this painting the hand of a young Leonardo, although today it is accepted only that the artist was inspired by one of Leonardo's drawings.
The whole composition is projected outwards, a movement that is underlined by the various surfaces around the throne. The clothes of the four saints are animated and rippled into vibrant surfaces and the architectural elements are finely sculpted and gilded in relief decoration.
The sharpness of his observation reveals to what extent Lippi had studied the work of Leonardo, although his use of bright colours - reds, blue and deep purple demonstrates that he followed his own line of personal inspiration.
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