3-002-804 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Madonna and Child, 1345-1349. The head of a large workshop, Bernardo Daddi was one of the most prolific painters of 14th-century Florence. This work is the central panel of a polyptych, or multi-panel altarpiece, and would have been flanked by images of saints. The painter gave the Madonna and Child a physical, three-dimensional presence by making their fingers disappear behind the fabric of their clothing. Christ's right arm also extends behind the Virgin's left shoulder. The linear decoration cut into the haloes and the minimal use of punch-work in the gold ground is typical of Florentine painting of this period.