Virgin and Child
Agnolo Gaddi·1390
Historical Context
This Virgin and Child by Agnolo Gaddi, painted around 1390 and now in the Palazzo Pretorio Museum in Prato, is a devotional panel from the twilight of the Giottesque tradition in Florence. Agnolo Gaddi was the most important Florentine painter of the 1380s and 1390s, responsible for major fresco cycles including the Legend of the True Cross at Santa Croce. His panel paintings of the Virgin and Child, produced in significant numbers by his workshop, served the steady demand for domestic and chapel devotional images.
Technical Analysis
Tempera and gold on panel. Gaddi's late style features softly rounded forms, gentle expressions, and the warm pastel tonality that distinguishes his work from the more austere manner of earlier Giottesque painting, set against a richly tooled gold ground.
