The Virgin, crowned as the Queen of Heaven, holds the Christ Child who raises his hand in blessing. They are surrounded by six angels. This small devotional altarpiece is unusual because of the secular nature of the angels's costumes, which were of a type fashionable in Florence in the 1420s. In the past, this painting has been ascribed to a number of minor Florentine & Sienese artists, but it is now linked on grounds of style with the work of Francesco d' Antonio di Bartolomeo. A strip of pastiglia (an Italian term meaning raised patterns made from gesso), has been fixed to the bottom of the modern frame in the position of a predella. This

Includes:: three painted quatrefoils showing the Virgin, the Dead Christ & Saint John.

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This type of composition showing the Virgin & Child enthroned is known as a Maestà (from the word 'majesty'). It was a popular design with Sienese painters. The painter takes his name from a fresco in Casole d' Elsa, near Siena, painted in about 1317. This Maestà may have been painted around the same time. The painting has been drastically cut at the base, probably because it was damaged. Originally the angels were full length. ...

The saints are from left to right: Mark, Peter Martyr, Thomas Aquinas, Dominic, Luke; & to the right of the figures of the Virgin & Child: John the Evangelist, Gregory, Catherine of Alexandria, the Magdalen, & a bishop with a book (perhaps Thomas à Becket). The painting is associated with the Dominican Church of S. Maria Novella in Florence because of the artist's links with this church & the choice of saints, some of whom are Dominican, & all of whom had altars dedicated to them in the church. ...

The Virgin & Child are flanked by an angel & Saint John the Baptist. Saint John the Baptist presents his younger cousin, Christ, with an emblem of Christ's future sacrifice, in this case, as is usual, a wooden cross &, as is very unusual, a lemon wh ...

The wall enclosing the Virgin & Child may be meant to suggest the 'hortus conclusus' or enclosed garden of the Old Testament (Song of Solomon 4:12), an image much favoured in litanies of the Virgin Mary. This picture is related to early compositions by B ...

The Virgin & Child are shown in a marble niche or throne. Two angels look on from behind. The pilasters have Corinthian capitals. It has been suggested that the picture, which is dated 1461, was painted in Bologna where the artist settled in about 1459.A ...

Curtains have been parted to reveal the Virgin & Child & two angels. One of the angels holds a lily, a traditional symbol of the Virgin's purity. The panel has been cut down, probably on all sides. Both Leonardo & Perugino began their careers worki ...

The Virgin is seated before a cloth of honour. The angels look on from behind a curtain. The Virgin holds a spray of red carnations, a symbol of the death of Christ; the infant Christ takes one from her. His nakedness emphasises his humanity. In the past t ...

This small 13th-century panel painting shows the Virgin & Child embracing, a common motif in Byzantine & early Italian art. The inscription on the background is MP OY which stands for 'MHTHP OEOY'
- ' Mother of God' in Greek. Sadly, the painting was stolen from the Gallery in 1970. In the Middle Ages, the Virgin was worshipped almost as fervently as Christ himself. She was seen as the Saint most ready to intercede on behalf of a repentant individual, & to beg forgiveness for their sins. Paintings on panel, such as this one, became increasingly popular in the 13th century as objects of private contemplation. Some were given the status of icons
- the objects themselves, not merely the subjects they depicted, were believed to have religious importance. Sculptures & paintings were occasionally reported to perform miracles (such as a statue of Mary that wept tears of blood). This panel is thought to have been one half of a diptych
- one of a pair of paintings hinged together that could be folded shut like a book. They were often decorated on the outside, & this panel is painted with a cross, ornamented with triangles & circles on the back. The other half of the diptych is thought to be a painting of Christ on the Cross.


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The painting, as hung in the gallery, is a small-scale representation of the monumental versions of the Maestà which Cimabue painted on panel for Santa Trinita, Florence & S. Francesco, Pisa. Although Italian artists were still influenced by the formal style of Byzantine painting, Cimabue's composition attempts to indicate three-dimensional space by placing the wooden throne at an angle. The Christ Child clings to his mother's hand like a small baby, instead of raising his hand in the gesture of blessing usually seen in Byzantine art. This exquisite & extremely rare panel is the only work by Cimabue in Great Britain & one of only two surviving small-scale paintings by the artist. It almost certainly formed part of a diptych, probably showing several scenes from the Passion of Christ, which included the Flagellation in the Frick Collection, New York. The other scenes, probably six, are lost. ...