Lucchese School
Madonna and Child, 12th century, tempera on panel
The work’s state of preservation is amply justified by the fact that it is one of the oldest paintings on wood panel that has come down to us from the Tuscan area and, given its small format, has had countless shifts and placements over time. Acquired by Horne in 1906, it was attributed by the scholar to an Arezzo master of the 13th century, only to be in the following decades more and more surely brought closer to the Lucca area and backdated to the previous century. Added to the rarity is the quality of execution (see, for example, the exquisite workmanship of the haloes in relief), which place our master in direct relation with a painter who, from a Lucchese crucifix, is conventionally identified with the name Maestro del Crocifisso di San Michele in Foro.
