Restored in 2016 with funding from Richard and Jill Almeida and the Friends of Florence Foundation

This Tuscan panel painting depicting the Madonna and Child Enthroned with Angels is attributed to the Master of Badia a Isola, a painter active from circa 1290 to 1320. The iconography of the work was common in Tuscan sacred painting of the period; it is often referred to as a Maestà for the majestically enthroned Virgin Mary who holds the Christ Child in her arms, while four attendant angels stand on either side of the throne, arranged in tiers. The infant Jesus playfully reaches for his mother’s white veil within the hood of her blue mantle, a premonition of his eventual sacrifice and the shroud within which his body will one day be enveloped. The gold background of the painting suggests that the figures inhabit a celestial realm and emphasizes their holy status.

The Maestro or Master of Badia a Isola was a Tuscan artist whose precise identity is unknown. He owes his name to a painting in an abbey church in Abbadia a Isola, located just outside of the town of Monteriggioni in the province of Siena. He was a contemporary of Duccio di Buoninsegna, and his works are often considered in close relation to paintings from Duccio’s early period. Indeed, scholars in the nineteenth century — as well as some more recent experts — have proposed that the Master of Badia a Isola could possibly be identified with the young Duccio due to stylistic similarities with the Rucellai Madonna in the Uffizi Galleries in Florence. Other works by the hand of the Master of Badia a Isola have been identified in collections in Italy, Germany, and the United States.

Italian industrialist Vittorio Cini (1885–1997) purchased the painting for his gallery in Palazzo Cini at San Vio in Venice from the Contini Bonacossi collection in Florence in 1955. Due to its large dimensions, the panel is thought to have originated in a Tuscan church, but has been recorded in various private collections since the early nineteenth century.

The conservation treatment funded by Friends of Florence and Save Venice Inc. was preceded by non-invasive preliminary analyses including photography in diffused, radiant, and ultraviolet light. Infrared reflectography was also used to examine the paint layers below the surface level, while images resulting from ultraviolet-induced visible fluorescence revealed past conservation efforts not visible to the naked eye.

Conservators then consolidated the painting’s ground preparation that had begun to detach from its support and meticulously re-adhered flaking paint onto the pictorial surface. The painting was cleaned thoroughly to remove accumulations of dust and grime, revealing and renewing the chromatic vibrancy of the original pigments employed by the artist. Stucco fills and repainting over paint losses applied in the last restoration in 1952 were removed and replaced with updated materials. Conservators integrated the losses with watercolors of a reversible nature, and applied a final coat of protective varnish.

For select projects, conservation dossiers in Italian containing limited textual and photographic documentation may be available for consultation by appointment at the Venice office of Save Venice and the Rosand Library & Study Center. For inquiries, please contact us at venice@savevenice.org.

Maestro di Badia a Isola (active c. 1290–1320)
Madonna and Child Enthroned with Angels (Maestà)
c. 1315, tempera and gold on wood panel
172 x 103 cm

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