Virgin Mary and Child 

This work, tempera and gold on panel, was executed by Lorenzo di Giovanni di Nofri at the end of the 15th century. It is a centred panel, that is, with a semicircular top, depicting a delicate Virgin Mary and Child.
The elegance of the painting is also accentuated by the gilded frame that encloses it, with a central dark band with a star motif, which is also gilded. This panel was probably originally more elongated in shape, as can be deduced from the rough-cut and unfinished base, inconsistent with the refinement of the painting. The work is small (80 x 58 cm) and represents a “colmo da camera”, a type of object that was much in vogue in the 15th century, intended for private devotion in the bedrooms of noble houses. The workshop of Lorenzo di Giovanni di Nofri specialised in this type of production, taking inspiration from the inventions of major artists and conveying them through images with great emotional impact.   
The Virgin Mary occupies almost the entire panel: standing, she holds the Child with delicate tapered hands. The flaps of the black cloak over the golden robe enclose the protective gesture of the mother, who observes her son with a melancholic air. The latter, wrapped in a pale, light mantle, holds his mother in an embrace. The bottom right shows the end of a balustrade that creates a particular depth of planes.
The artist, known until the end of the last century as the “Master of San Miniato” due to the group of works similar to the panel with Madonna and Saints in the Church of San Domenico in San Miniato, trained in the workshop of Neri di Bicci from 1465 to 1466, as some iconographic traits reveal. The more polished forms in the decoration, soft volumes and gentle physiognomies first brought him closer to Filippo Lippi and, from the 1480s onwards, to Andrea del Verrocchio and Francesco Botticini with chiaroscuro accentuation and more defined body volumes.