Virgin and Child Enthroned with Four Angels

Neri di Bicci's Virgin and Child Enthroned with Four Angels, painted around 1445 for the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, is a characteristic product of one of Florence's most prolific workshops. Neri di Bicci kept detailed shop records (the Ricordanze), providing unique documentation of artistic production in Renaissance Florence. This work belongs to the Early Renaissance, the transformative period in European art when painters first applied mathematical perspective, naturalistic figure modeling, and archaeological interest in antiquity to the inherited traditions of medieval devotional painting. The tension between Gothic grace and Renaissance structure gives art of this period a distinctive energy.

The enthroned Madonna with attending angels is rendered in Neri di Bicci's reliable workshop style, combining the conventions of earlier Florentine painting with his characteristic competent draftsmanship and bright, clear colors.