Tabernacle of the Linaioli

In October 1432 the linen-drapers' guild of Florence, the Arte dei Linaioli, wanted a grand tabernacle for their meeting hall near the old market, and they hired the best. The marble frame was designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti, the sculptor then at work on the bronze doors of the Baptistery. The paintings inside went to Fra Angelico, a Dominican friar, for 190 gold florins. He gave them a Madonna and Child ringed by twelve angels, each playing a different instrument, their robes and wings worked in real gold. It was meant to stand where the linen merchants passed on their way to trade, a small blaze of colour and gilding on a busy square.