Madonna and Child Enthroned with Angels and Saints Paulinus, John the Baptist, Andrew and Matthew (triptych)

A merchant of Lucca, Paolino di Simonino di Bonagiunta, ordered this triptych for the oratory of Sant'Andrea in his city, and Spinello Aretino signed and dated it in 1391. The saints were chosen almost like a family portrait. Andrew is there for the church, while Paulinus, the bishop saint of Lucca, John the Baptist and Matthew carry the names of the donor and his brothers. Spinello was moving between Lucca, Pisa and Florence in these years, and a dated work like this is a fixed point in his career. The state catalogue records an older view that Lorenzo di Niccolò helped him, though the museum names Spinello alone.

In 1850 the triptych nearly went abroad after an illegal sale, until the Tuscan government blocked it and assigned the painting to the Accademia. By then it was darkened by old varnish and heavy repainting. A restoration begun in 2024 by Andrea and Lucia Dori removed the altered overpaint and found the Virgin's cloak in its original blue, made from azurite and natural ultramarine. The museum showed the result in a dedicated display from February to July 2026.