Master of Saint'Ivo - Madonna and Child with Cherubs .jpg

Master of Sant'Ivo

Florence, active from 1390 to 1415

The Master of Sant’Ivo derives his name from a painting of highly unusual subject, Saint Ivo in Judgement, formerly in the Palazzo di Parte Guelfa and now in the Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence. Federico Zeri was first to ascribe a group of works to this master in 1967, calling him the “Master of the Madonna of the Christ Church Gallery” owing to the similarity between a Madonna of Humility in Christ Church Picture Gallery, Oxford, and another in the collection of the Vatican Museums. A few years later, in 1975, Miklòs Boskovits grouped thirty-five paintings under the master’s hand, renaming him the “Master of Sant’Ivo”, and this corpus has since expanded to forty-eight works.

Madonna and Child

Tempera on panel, diameter 60 cm

Provenance

Milan, Carlo Foresti collection, 1930

Lucerne, Sale Fischer, 23-26 August 1939, lot 1586

New York, private collection

Active between about 1390 and 1415, the master’s earliest works come closest to those of Agnolo Gaddi, suggesting he trained in the latter’s workshop. His later output bears an affinity with the works of Mariotto di Nardo, Lorenzo Monaco and Lippo d’Andrea. Judging from the paintings thus far ascribed to him, the Master of Sant’Ivo seems to have specialised in painting small-scale works, frequently representing the Madonna and Child, intended for private devotion in domestic settings. This refined painting, unusual for its circular shape and scalloped decoration, is exactly the type of painting that would have adorned the home of a wealthy Florentine patron at the turn of the fourteenth century.

The painting was recorded by Federico Zeri as by Giovanni del Biondo, describing it as “marvellous”, when in the collection of Carlo Foresti in Milan. With the same attribution it was sold then in August 1936 in the Fischer sale , where most of the gold grounds coming from the Foresti collection were sold.

The round shape of this panel makes it a unique piece within the Florentine landscape of its time. Upon closer examination, the back of the table reveals the presence of two original hooks, which strongly suggest that the piece was conceived to be suspended as part of a larger, more complex monumental structure. This structure may have included additional movable elements, components of which have unfortunately been lost over time, leaving no trace to confirm their original presence. The choice of materials, as the use of rare and costly pigments, particularly azurite, implies a commission of considerable wealth and importance. The expense associated with such pigments, which were known for their vibrant hue and rarity, indicates that the patron who commissioned this work was not only financially affluent but also sought to create an object of significant artistic and cultural importance. The scale of the work suggests that the table was intended as part of a grand, movable apparatus, further emphasizing the table’s remarkable importance within its historical and artistic context.

A full fact sheet is available on request.