The Virgin and Child

Bernardo Daddi's Virgin and Child from around 1340 represents the mature phase of this prolific Florentine master's career. By this date Daddi had established himself as Florence's foremost painter of intimate devotional panels, producing works that softened Giotto's monumental severity with a warmer, more approachable tenderness. The painting's presence in the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection reflects the 20th-century international appetite for Trecento gold-ground panels.

Egg tempera on gold-ground panel with delicate punchwork in the haloes. Daddi's modeling achieves a convincing three-dimensionality in the Virgin's face and hands, while the Child's pose introduces a naturalistic playfulness that would influence subsequent Florentine painters.