Tavoletta di Biccherna: The Camarlingo Niccolò di Leonardo della Gazaia, His Scrivener and Three taxpayers

Paolo di Giovanni Fei painted this tavoletta di Biccherna in 1402, one of the painted wooden tax record covers that are unique to Siena. The Biccherna was Siena's financial office, and from the thirteenth century its account books were given painted covers depicting the officials responsible for the city's finances. These small paintings constitute one of the earliest continuous series of commissioned secular art in Europe and document Sienese civic life over centuries.

Fei renders the fiscal official and his scrivener with the characteristic precision and clarity of Sienese panel painting. The gold ground and the formal, documentary arrangement of figures reflect the civic purpose of the tavoletta, combining artistic refinement with administrative record-keeping.