(Florence c. 1370–1434)
The Madonna of Humility with Saints John the Baptist, Julian, Anthony Abbot and Nicholas of Bari,
tempera on gold ground panel, 103 x 52.5 cm, unframed

Provenance:
European Private Collection

The painting is registered under no. 9768 in the Fototeca Zeri.

We are grateful to Alessandro Tomei for confirming the attribution.

The name of the Master of Borgo alla Collina derives from a triptych, dated 1423, still conserved in the parish church of Borgo alla Collina, in the Casentino in Tuscany (see G. Pudelko, The Maestro del Bambino Vispo, in: Art in America, 1938, p. 53). The artist’s development echoes that of the Master of the Bambino Vispo, today identified as Gherardo Starnina. The identification of the Master of the Bambino Vispo with the Florentine Gherardo di Jacopo Starnina (see J. van Waadenoijen, Starnina e il gotico internazionale a Firenze, Florence 1983, pp. 45, 48, 49, 54, 60) has also helped shed some light on the career of the Master of Borgo alla Collina, who worked in a similar manner in later life, and was perhaps a member of Starnina’s bottega; he retained the same style in the second and third decade of the Quattrocento, above all during his time in the Casentino region.

The size of the present painting suggests that it may have been part of a small portable altarpiece (anconetta) for private devotion, perhaps originally including more panels, with the present one constituting the centre. The unusual pattern of the pouncing on the Madonna’s halo, formed by pairs of symmetrical leaves around a central branch, was in line with a highly popular model in the areas between Florence and Pisa at the end of the 14th century, and is identical to the one found in the Assumption of Mary in the Prespositura (parish church) of Stia (Casentino), attributed by Pudelko to the Master of Borgo alla Collina (see G. Pudelko, The Maestro del Bambino Vispo, in: Art in America, 1938, p. 58).

The present panel, datable to the end of the 1420s or even to the 1430s, presupposes an awareness of models used in the workshop of Gherardo Starnina. The halos of the minor figures are exactly the same as those used by Starnina in works such as the Adoration of the Magi in Kansas City or the Madonna in Malibu. The two figures of Saint John the Baptist and Saint Nicholas in the foreground are borrowed with great precision from the small altarpiece by Starnina at the Accademia of Florence (no. 441), datable to the very last years of his career, and certainly before 1413. The group of the Madonna and Child reveals an awareness of more modern developments in painting. The standing Child, arms outstretched towards his mother’s neck, and the affection expressed by the physical contact of the two heads, are derived from a prototype by Masolino da Panicale of 1423 (Bremen, Kunsthalle).

The painting displays a refined technique and is a sum of the working methods that can be found in 14th century paintings, beginning with the contour underdrawings essential for tracing folds, accurately drawn with a thin brush or sometimes engraved, as can be seen in the Madonna’s blue cloak painted with azurite. Particularly interesting is the fact that the entire body of the Child was drawn and largely painted under his vest (see related IR reflectography). The pouncing method, testified by the sequence of small dots seen in IR images, was used to transfer the fine decorative patterns of the Madonna’s red robe and of the yellow lapel of her cloak. Many characteristics recall the treatise on the art of painting written by Cennino Cennini at the beginning of the 14th century (Cennino Cennini, Il libro dell’arte, II, ed. Vicenza 2004). In the blue areas, azurite is used, while lapis lazuli is reserved for some details of St. Nicholas’ cape; indigo combined with yellow constitute the decoration of the floor tiles. Vermilion constitutes the brighter reds, while a carmine red pigment is used for its shadows, for the Madonna’s robe, and, mixed in various quantities with lead white, for the Baptist’s mantle and the Child’s robe. Lead-based yellow and ochre pigments are employed for yellow tones.