St. Mary Magdalene, St. Benedict, St. Bernard of Clairveaux and St. Catherine of Alexandria

Agnolo Gaddi painted this panel of four standing saints — Mary Magdalene, Benedict, Bernard of Clairvaux, and Catherine of Alexandria — around 1380, likely as part of a larger polyptych altarpiece. The combination of monastic saints (Benedict, Bernard) with popular devotional figures (Magdalene, Catherine) suggests a commission from a Benedictine or Cistercian foundation. Gaddi, son of the great Taddeo Gaddi and godson of Giotto, represented the culmination of Florence's dominant painting dynasty.

The panel is executed in egg tempera with extensive gold ground and punchwork decoration in the haloes. Gaddi's characteristically soft, rounded modeling and warm color palette distinguish his work from the more linear Orcagnesque style that also dominated late Trecento Florence.