The Camarlingo Niccolò di Leonardo della Gazaia, His Scrivener and Three Taxpayers (Sienese account book cover)

Paolo di Giovanni Fei's Sienese account book cover depicting the Camarlingo Niccolò di Leonardo della Gazaia with his scrivener and three taxpayers is a unique document — a painting made not for devotional or decorative purposes but as the cover of a civic financial record. The Biccherna covers of Siena were the most celebrated examples of this peculiarly Sienese institution: the city's financial officers commissioned painted wooden covers for the account books of the Biccherna and Gabella, making administrative records into small devotional and commemorative paintings. Paolo di Giovanni Fei's version is among the most accomplished surviving examples.

The composition is organised with the Camarlingo at centre, his scrivener recording and three taxpayers presenting in a compact, laterally arranged group that fills the small panel format economically. Paolo di Giovanni Fei's tempera technique gives the civic official's robes a dignified formality appropriate to his administrative function, while the taxpayers are individualised with the naturalistic variety of portrait-based observation.