Bernardo Daddi – Madonna and Child Enthroned With Saints

This miniature maestà is a remarkable survival from the 14th century. Its central component was painted by Bernardo Dandi, one of the most important artists active in Florence in the second quarter of the 14th century, in the wake of Giotto di Bondone, the great father of painting in that city. The central panel shows the Madonna and Christ child The upper register is a particularly notable composition, which shows God the Father blessing the viewer, reveals a pair of angels on either side who have held up a lens or a mirror through which they need to shield their eyes from the divine light. An object like this is an exceedingly rare survival, to say the least, and the remarkable condition of the present panel makes it especially exciting.