Madonna and Child with Saints Jerome, Francis, Anthony of Padua and Louis of Toulouse

This artwork, tempera on panel, depicting the Sacred conversation, has been attributed to the distinctive and sophisticated Francesco Botticini. The latter is an artist belonging to a family of painters of the Florentine countryside. There is no certainty as to the artwork's origin, but it has been speculated that it was painted around 1483 for the Prato church of Saint Francis. The altarpiece is 157 centimetres high by 133 centimetres long.
At the center, the Virgin Mary sits on a marble throne nursing the Child, who is distracted by looking at us, the observers. On the left side of the painting, she is accompanied by Saint Jerome and Saint Francis. Saint Jerome is represented in a red and very long cardinal's robe. The red galero (the cardinal's hat) lies at his feet, on a lawn with a few seedlings cared for in detail as if it were a medieval herb garden. Furthermore, he holds a book with refined golden ribs. Behind him, Saint Francis, with a monk's habit, fixes an intense gaze toward the Virgin Mary; on his hands, golden rays mark the stigmata.
On the right side of the painting, we find Saint Louis of Toulouse and Saint Anthony of Padua. The first is depicted with the pastoral and the mitre in the head. Above the habit, he wears a blue brocade coat with gilded motifs and white gloves adorned with precious stones, which are reminiscent of jewels made by goldsmiths. Behind him, Saint Anthony of Padua, wearing a monastic habit, holds a book and a flame, his iconographic attributes.
The four saints appear elongated, almost like columns and are arranged in a pyramidal pattern with the Virgin Mary at the top.
It is likely that the gold background, which was out of fashion during the full Renaissance, was chosen by the clients, but still contributes to the overall precious quality of the image.