Madonna and Child Enthroned (c. 1339)

This work, like many others from Daddi’s workshop, was designed for personal devotion in a home or small chapel. Its small scale allowed for intimate, daily interaction with the divine figures, helping to focus the worshiper's prayer and meditation. The composition, with its balance of divine majesty and human tenderness, exemplifies the Florentine approach to religious art during this period, where greater attention was given to naturalism and emotional accessibility, even within highly stylized compositions.

The Madonna and Child Enthroned, created around 1335–39 by the workshop of Bernardo Daddi, is a fine example of a small devotional panel from the early Italian Renaissance. Bernardo Daddi, a prominent Florentine painter, was deeply influenced by the pioneering work of Giotto, whose innovations in creating more naturalistic and emotionally expressive figures marked a turning point in Italian art. Daddi's workshop, known for producing religious works that were sought after by patrons for private devotion, continued this tradition, emphasizing clarity, elegance, and a softened humanism in sacred subjects.