Search	The Work of Tavarnelle Val di Pesa, Museo di Arte Sacra :: Madonna and Child between Sts. Peter and John Ugolino di Nerio, Third decade of the 14th century :: Monstrance Nicola de Angelis, Dated 1706 :: Processional cross Tuscan Manifacture, Second half of the 13th century :: Sts Peter and Paul Francesco Conti, Fourth decade of the 18th century :: Chalice Tuscan Manifacture, Second-third decade of the 18th century :: Chalice Tuscan Manifacture, Early 15th century :: Chasuble Tuscan Manifacture, Second half of the 18th century :: Madonna and Child enthroned between Sts. Sebastian and Martin Master of Tavarnelle, 1510-1515 ca. :: Madonna and Child between the angels Raphael and Gabriel Master of Marradi, 1470-1480 ca :: Lamentation over the dead Christ Neri di Bicci, Mentioned in documents in 1473 :: Madonna and Child Meliore, 1270-1280 ca.	.:. works .:. artists Madonna and Child between Sts. Peter and John Third decade of the 14th century Ugolino di Nerio Tavarnelle Val Di Pesa, Museum of Religious Art Tempera on wood; 109 x 119cm. Source: Church of San Pietro at Olena   This triptych, painted in tempera on a dark background (due to the oxidisation of the silver), shows the Madonna and Child in the centre. The side panels contain St. Peter, after whom the church of provenance is called, shown with his symbolic keys, and St.John the Evangelist, holding the Book of Gospels, and placed, as tradition would have it, beside the Virgin. The inscriptions placed at the bottom in capital letters identify both these Saints with certainty. The Redeemer in benediction occupies the central cusp with an angel on either side. Berenson attributed this triptych in 1936 to the sphere of the workshop of Ugolino di Nerio (or from Siena), a student of Duccio di Buoninsegna and also active in San Casciano Val di Pesa. This attribution was confirmed almost univocally by all later critics, with the exception of Stubblebine (1979) who attributed it to an unknown painter, whom he baptised the Master of Olena. A recurring theme in Ugolino's Madonnas shows the Child catching hold of His mother's veil; she instead is not looking at Him but towards the spectator with an intense expression on her face. Dressed in a bright red tunic, the symbol of the sacrifice of Christ in Christian art, He holds the scrolls of the divine law in His left hand, while His right arm rests lovingly on the shoulder of the Virgin, who is completely enveloped in her blue mantle, so that the holy veil that frames Mary's face stands out in clear chromatic contrast and decorative effect. The painter's Sienese style can immediately be recognised in the finely drawn figures, especially that of the Madonna, in the extremely precious Gothic gilding that emphasises the edges of her blue mantle, and in the use of bright colour. However comparison with other works known to have been carried out by the artist clearly show the formal deficiencies in some of the details in the painting, above all in the figures at the sides, which has led critics to believe that the workshop carried out a fair amount of the work, probably because it was destined for a country church. Apart from the painting itself, the carpentry used for the triptych, carved and painted with geometric motifs, is extremely interesting. It also boasts a rare example of a completely original frame, as most 14th century works have reached us either mutilated or transformed and often after being altered in Renaissance workshops which, alongside their normal painting activity, would also "re-modernise", "correct" or bring up to date paintings on wood and polyptyches that came from a period whose fashion was long out of date. back print
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