BICCI DI LORENZO
(b. 1373, Firenze, d. 1452, Firenze)

Madonna and Child with Saints Matthew and Francis

1430s
Tempera on panel, 83 x 48 cm
Private collection

The panel is in a carved and gilt engaged tabernacle frame with paired Solomonic columns. Formerly, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, it was sold for the Acquisitions Fund in 2013.

The soft modeling of the figures in this panel is typical of Bicci's style. The painting is in very good condition and allows us to appreciate the care taken to describe the delicate folds of the red mantle, the gold highlights at the edges of the robes, the raised inscriptions in the halos and the fine decoration of both the damask cloth on the floor and the sheet that wraps the Christ Child. This interest in the intricate adornment of the fabrics, in particular, points to Gentile's influence on Bicci.