Madonna Enthroned with Child and Six Angels (''Maestà'')

The Master of Saint Cecilia, a Florentine painter active around 1300–1320 who takes his name from an altarpiece in the Uffizi, here adopts the grand Maestà format popularized by Cimabue and Duccio. This enthroned Madonna with Child and six angels in the Uffizi dates to around 1320 and shows the transitional moment between Byzantine formality and the new Florentine naturalism. The master was likely a contemporary and follower of Giotto, and this work — with its richly gilded throne and formally disposed angels — demonstrates how the Maestà format anchored Florentine panel painting's development before the Black Death disrupted the next generation.

Tempera on panel with extensive gold ground and punched haloes. The throne is rendered with architectural detail suggesting spatial recession. Drapery folds follow a hybrid system — Byzantine gold striations mixed with Giottesque volumetric shading. The angels' faces show an effort at individualized expression unusual for the period.