(San Giovanni Valdarno 1406–1486 Florence)
The Madonna and Child between Saint Francis and Saint Michael, bearing the coat of arms of the Minerbetti and Lanfredini families,
tempera and gold on panel, 47 x 35 cm, framed

Provenance:
commissioned by the Minerbetti family in circa 1444;
Collection of Jonathan Reeve (circa 1831–1896), London;
sale, Christie’s, London, 18 January 1879, lot 34 (as Early Italian school);
Collection of Molyneux Bournemouth;
sale, Christie’s, London, 31 March 1900, lot 100 (as Early Italian school);
Collection of Charles Arthur Turner (1833–1907), London;
sale, Christie’s, London, 16 March 1908, lot 67 (as Sienese school);
sale, Christie’s, New York, 30 October 2018, lot 5 (as Apollonio di Giovanni di Tomaso [Florence circa 1416–1465] and Marco del Buono Giamberti [Florence 1402–1489]);
where acquired by the present owner

We are grateful to Louis Waldman and to Nicoletta Pons for suggesting the attribution of the present painting.

The present work has been previously attributed to Apollonio di Giovanni di Tomaso (Florence circa 1416–1465) and Marco del Buono Giamberti (Florence 1402–1489). However, recent study has resulted in a revised attribution.

Giovanni di ser Giovanni Guidi, called Lo Scheggia, was the younger brother of Masaccio. He trained in 1420-21 under the Florentine master Bicci di Lorenzo but was subsequently influenced by the work of his brother. In 1969, Luciano Bellosi recognised that the group of panels assigned by Longhi to the Master of the Adimari Cassone were by the same hand as the fresco of 1457, the only known signed work by Lo Scheggia. The artist specialised in the production of small devotional pictures, deschi da parto and other decorative works, including cassone and spalliera panels.

It is possible to propose an exact dating of the present painting due to the inclusion of the two coats-of-arms which belong to two important families. On the left, the husband´s crest is that of the Minerbetti family from the quartiere of Santa Maria Novella (‘Di rosso, a tre spade basse appuntate d’argento, guarnite d’oro’, see Marcella Aglietti, Le tre nobiltà. La legislazione del Granducato di Toscana (1750) tra Magistrature civiche, Ordine di Santo Stefano e Diplomi del Principe, Pisa, 2000, p. 238; and Bruno Casini, I ‘Libri d’oro’ della nobiltà fiorentina e fiesolana, Firenze, 1993, p. 67), whilst the right or wife´s crest, belongs to the Lanfredini family from the quartiere of Santo Spirito.

Andrea Minerbetti, Conte di Montefeltro, was the Florentine ambassador to Paris and to the Holy See. His son Tommaso also held important offices in the city state, before he married Bice Strozzi. The son of this marriage, Piero, was born in 1414, and he in turn married Caterina Lanfredini in 1439. Their coats-of-arms are depicted in the present painting. Piero and Caterina’s son Francesco was born in 1444, and the inclusion of Saint Francis as patron of the new born child would suggest that the present painting was commissioned to commemorate his christening. Saint Michael may have been included to refer to a family patron saint, or an important godparent.

The dating of the present painting to circa 1444, would imply that it is an early work by Lo Scheggia and like many of the artist’s early works it shows the influence of his elder brother, Masaccio, as well as Fra Angelico.

From December 1420, and throughout the following year, Lo Scheggia is recorded as a pupil of Bicci di Lorenz, however he was in regular contact with Masaccio’s workshop. In 1427-28 he shared his brother’s studio in Piazza Sant’ Apollinare (now Piazza San Firenze). In 1430, he enrolled in the Compagnia di San Luca where he became known as ‘Scheggia’ (literally ‘splinter’), a name given to him on account of his slight stature. In 1433, he became an independent master of the Arte dei Medici e Speziali.