Madonna and Child Enthroned with Angels

This Madonna and Child Enthroned with Angels by the Master of Varlungo, an anonymous Florentine painter active in the late 13th century, is preserved in the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, the great Franciscan church that was one of the foremost artistic centers of medieval Italy. The artist's conventional name derives from a panel in the church of San Pietro a Varlungo near Florence. This painting belongs to the generation of Florentine painters who worked alongside and in the wake of Cimabue, preparing the ground for Giotto's revolutionary innovations.

Painted in tempera and gold on panel, the enthroned Virgin is flanked by symmetrically arranged angels in a composition that reflects Byzantine Maesta prototypes. The softened facial modeling and more naturalistic proportions show the influence of Cimabue's innovations on Florentine workshop practice of the 1280s.