Madonna

Lorenzo Monaco painted this Madonna around 1403, a period when he was the leading painter working in the Late Gothic manner in Florence. A Camaldolese monk at Santa Maria degli Angeli, Lorenzo Monaco combined the spiritual intensity of monastic life with extraordinary artistic refinement Lorenzo Monaco brought a lyrical, elongated elegance to Florentine painting at the turn of the fifteenth century, bridging the Gothic tradition and the emerging Renaissance.

The painting showcases Lorenzo Monaco's hallmark sinuous line and luminous color, with elongated forms and flowing drapery characteristic of the International Gothic style filtered through Florentine tradition.