Madonna and Child

This tender image of the Christ Child holding onto his mother is a fragment from a much larger work. It was probably cut from the center of a multi-paneled altarpiece in which the Madonna and Child were shown enthroned surrounded by full-length standing saints. The geometric forms and careful execution are typical of Lorenzo di Bicci, founder of one of the longest-lasting artistic dynasties of Renaissance Florence. Active from at least 1370 until his death in 1412, Lorenzo’s enterprise was inherited by his son Bicci, who is represented by an altarpiece at the Walters (37.448). On Bicci’s death in 1452, the shop passed to his son, Neri, who worked until 1492 and who is represented by two altarpieces at the Walters (37.675 and 37.700). The workshop’s prolific output in a variety of objects—which included not only altarpieces but also frescoes, small-scale devotional panels, painted candles, and even shop signs—allowed them to satisfy a broad clientele in Florence and its surroundings.

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Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Carlo Zen, Milan, prior to 1913 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, prior to 1922 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.