Madonna and Child Enthroned

This Madonna and Child Enthroned by the Master of the Magdalen, dated to around 1270–1290 and formerly in the George Blumenthal collection, is the work of an anonymous Florentine painter active in the late Duecento whose conventional name derives from a panel of Mary Magdalen in the Accademia. Working in the generation just before Giotto's revolution, the Master of the Magdalen represents the established Byzantine-influenced style of Florentine painting that would soon be transformed by the new naturalism. His numerous surviving works attest to a prolific workshop serving Florence's churches and confraternities.

Executed in tempera and gold on panel, the enthroned Madonna follows the Byzantine Hodegetria type with the Christ Child held on the Virgin's left arm in a formal, iconic arrangement. The style retains strong Byzantinizing features including linear drapery patterns, stylized facial features with almond eyes, and a flat gold ground, representing the prevailing Florentine manner before Giotto.