(Florence 1417–1491)
Madonna and Child enthroned,
tempera and oil on panel, 70 x 43 cm, integral frame

Provenance:
Private European collection

Domenico di Michelino (Domenico di Francesco) took the name of his first master, the cassone-painter Michele di Benedetto (active in the first half of the fifteenth century). In 1442 he became a member of the Compagnia di San Luca and in 1444 he became a member of the Arte dei Medici e Speziali in Florence. He trained in the workshop of Fra’ Angelico, where he is mentioned as a pupil by Vasari (see G. Vasari, Lives of the most eminent painters, sculptors and architects, 1568, translated by G. du C. de Vere, vol. III, London 1912, p. 36).

Domenico di Michelino also worked with Zanobi Strozzi and he was influenced by Filippo Lippi and Pesellino, but developed an individual and highly decorative style, which enjoyed considerable success (see A. M. Ciaranfi, Domenico di Michelino, in: Dedalo, VI (1925–26), pp. 522-537; L. Collobri Ragghianti, Domenico di Michelino, in: Critica d’Arte, VIII-IX (1949–50), pp. 363-78).The composition format of the Madonna and Child in the present painting is based on a type established by Fra Filippo Lippi and Francesco Pesellino. 

Works by Domenico di Michelino include the altarpiece with the Madonna enthroned and six Saints in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich (WAF 1086) dated 1458, the Madonna and Child enthroned with Saints Anthony Abbot, John the Baptist, Margaret, James, Peter and Mary Magdalene in the Museo della Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie in San Giovanni Valdarno, originally from Santa Margherita dei Cerchi in Florence, the fragmentary Madonna standing with the Child and Saints John the Baptist, Michael Archangel, Christopher and a bishop saint from the National Museum of Fine Arts in Valletta (Malta), and the Madonna enthroned with Saints John the Evangelist, Cosmas, Damian and Thomas in the Chellini chapel in San Domenico at San Miniato, commissioned by Giovanni Chellini in 1461 (see A. Bernacchioni, Committenti Sanminiatesi nell’attività di Domenico di Michelino, in: Bollettino dell’Accademia degli Euteleti, 57, (1990), pp. 5-14).