Niccolò di Pietro Gerini

Casalini Collection, Florence, since the late 19th century;
Acquired by the present owner in the 1990s.

The panel is made up of a single plank, which has additions on all edges (as visible in the catalogue illustration). The paint surface is stable and slightly dirty, and the gold leaf is largely well-preserved, save for an area that appears to have been reapplied, upper right, measuring approx. 2 by 4 cm. The work is in overall very good condition, considering its age. Inspection under ultraviolet light reveals an old campaign of restoration: there are small retouchings throughout the clothing of the figures, lower left, and the figure lower right, the two musical angels, and the angel, upper right. There is an area of repaint, 2 cm. diam., in the Madonna's right shoulder, and another, 2 by 6 cm., covering Christ's left side and the Madonna's left hand. There is also spot retouching in the Madonna's face, and Christ's legs and right elbow.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This panel is entirely characteristic of the small-scale devotional panels that enjoyed considerable popularity in Florence at the end of the fourteenth and early fifteenth century. Gerini is first recorded in 1368 as a member of the Arte dei Medici e Speziali in Florence. He is almost certainly the Niccolò dipintore who collaborated with Jacopo di Cione on frescoes for the Guildhall of the Judges and Notaries in Florence in 1366, and again in 1370 on the altarpiece of The Coronation of the Virgin for S. Piero Maggiore in the same city. For the latter work he received 12 gold florins in November that year 'per disegnare la tavola dell'altare'. Gerini was probably trained under Taddeo Gaddi, and his style seems to have been founded upon a mixture of those of Gaddi and Orcagna, whose brother Jacopo di Cione was his most frequent collaborator. The design of this panel can be compared to a number of other works ascribed to Gerini; the distinctive pose of the Madonna's arm entwined by the legs of the Christ Child recurs, for example, in an altarpiece of The Madonna and Child with four saints in the Pinacoteca della Collegiata, Empoli, and again in a devotional panel of the Madonna and Child in the Museo Stibbert in Florence.¹ In all three works the Christ Child holds a goldfinch, symbol of his coming Passion. Similarly, the two music-making angels at the foot of the painting recur in several other works by Gerini, such as that sold London, Christie's, 7 July 1972, lot 45, and later with Trafalgar Galleries, London.² Boskovits dates this last example to around 1380–85, and a similar date may well apply to the present work.

The attribution to Gerini was endorsed by the late Prof. Miklós Boskovits on the basis of photographs in 2006.

1. Both reproduced in M. Boskovits, Pittura Fiorentina alla vigilia del Rinascimento, 1370–1400, Florence 1975, figs. 157 and 158.
2. Idem, fig. 189.