Artwork
Madonna and Child with saints
Madonna and Child with saints is a tempera painting by the Byzantine icon painting artist Agnolo Gaddi. It dates from 1375 and is held in the collection of the Uffizi Gallery.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1375, this tempera panel by Agnolo Gaddi presents a traditional Madonna and Child surrounded by a group of saints. The composition is organized symmetrically, with the central mother and infant flanked by three figures on each side, all set against a gold background highlighted with red accents. The work exemplifies the sacra conversazione format popular in late medieval Italian art.
Subject & Meaning
The central figures—Mary in a black, hooded robe holding the infant Jesus, who is clad in pink—form the focal point of devotion. The surrounding saints, each identifiable by their distinct attire and gestures, create a communal space of intercession, reflecting the Byzantine iconographic tradition that emphasized the holy family's accessibility to the faithful.
Technique & Style
Executed in tempera, the painting displays the precise, linear brushwork characteristic of Gaddi’s workshop. The gold ground provides a luminous backdrop, while the careful modeling of drapery and delicate coloration of the child’s garment reveal the artist’s inheritance of Giotto’s naturalistic approach, blended with lingering Byzantine stylization.
History & Provenance
Agnolo Gaddi, trained by his father Taddeo and descending from the Giotto school, produced the panel during a period when his family maintained significant artistic and commercial influence in Florence. The work entered the collection of the Uffizi Gallery, where it remains part of the museum’s holdings of 14th‑century Florentine painting.
Context
The painting belongs to the late Gothic phase in Tuscany, when Florentine artists were integrating Byzantine iconography with emerging naturalism. Gaddi’s rendition of the sacra conversazione reflects both the devotional needs of local patrons and the broader shift toward more personal, intimate representations of sacred subjects.
Artist & collection
Artist
Agnolo Gaddi (c.1350–1396) was an Italian painter. He was born and died in Florence, and was the son of the painter Taddeo Gaddi, who was himself the major pupil of the Florentine master Giotto. Agnolo was a painter…
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