Madonna and Child Enthroned with Angels and Saints

Signed and dated 1334, this panel is small, about 56 by 26 centimetres, made for a single well-off family to keep and pray before. The Virgin and Child sit enthroned beneath a tall pointed canopy that climbs almost the full height of the picture, its carved architecture standing in for the walls of a chapel. Around the throne are eight angels and the two chief apostles, Peter with his keys and Paul with his sword. For all the gold ground, Daddi handles the figures gently, with soft modelling and quiet colour. The whole scene is not much larger than a book you could hold open in your two hands.