The Master of the Misericordia

The following condition report is provided by Hamish Dewar who is an external specialist and not an employee of Sotheby's: Structural Condition The arched panel seems to be generally secure although there is a vertical split running down from the point of the arch which does not extend down to the paint surface. The reverse of the panel shows historic degradation and again historic woodworm holes but is now structurally secure. Paint Surface The paint surface has been varnished. There are a number of historic splits as well as a pattern of drying craquelure particularly in the dark pigments of the Virgin's robes. These areas are all stable. Inspection under ultra-violet light shows small scattered retouchings, including: 1) some small spots and two thin lines approximately 2 cm and 3 cm in length on the Virgin's draperies over Her knees, and a larger area on Her draperies 1.5 cm in diameter. 2) Old retouchings on the Virgin's right hand and feint evidence of older retouchings on the flesh tones. There are other scattered retouchings. The varnish layers are quite opaque under ultra-violet light and there may be other retouchings beneath these varnish layers that are not identifiable under ultra-violet light. Summary The painting would therefore appear to be in good and stable condition.
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This intimate and unpublished tabernacle, almost certainly destined for private devotion, was painted by the as-yet anonymous Master of the Misericordia.¹ A notable figure in late trecento Florence, he was influenced by Taddeo Gaddi, Andrea Orcagna, and Bernardo Daddi. The corpus of his work has been steadily amplified since Richard Offner identified a homogenous hand around a Madonna della Misericordia with Nuns in the Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence, and two predella panels which depict the Stories of Saint Eligius in the Prado, Madrid.² His catalogue was later expanded by Miklós Boskovits, who placed the Master among the protagonists of Florentine painting of his day, and Sonia Chiodo, whose recent publication on the artist provides an invaluable analysis of his work.

The Christ Child’s pose, seen here with his right arm raised, is a direct echo of another autograph work by the Master in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Parma.³ In the background of the Parma painting, like in the present work and another painting in a European private collection,⁴ an ornately brocaded red cloth adorns the Madonna’s throne. This interest in fine decoration is typical of mid-fourteenth-century Florence and is often found in works by Orcagna’s circle, particularly those of his brother Jacopo di Cione. 

We are grateful to Professoressa Sonia Chiodo for endorsing the attribution after first-hand inspection.

1 The artist has been very tentatively identified as Giovanni Gaddi, son and brother of Taddeo and Agnolo Gaddi respectively.

2 See S. Chiodo, Painters in Florence after the 'Black Death'. The Master of the Misericordia and Matteo di Pacino, in M. Boskovits (ed.), A Critical and Historical Corpus of Florentine Painting, section IV, vol. IX, Florence 2011, pp. 167–71, reproduced plate XII; and pp. 139–43, reproduced plates III1–2.

3. Chiodo 2011, pp. 123–26, reproduced plate II2.

4. Chiodo 2011, pp. 183–85, reproduced plate XVII2. The panel was recently offered in New York, Christie's, 29 January 2014, lot 126.