ZANINO DI PIETRO (active 1389-1448)

The Madonna of Humility with Saint Francis of Assisi

Tempera on gold, in the original engaged panel frame:     74.8 by 54.1 cm.; 29 ⅜ by 21 ¼ in.

This exceptionally rare work, in its surviving original frame, was painted in Venice around 1400 when Zanino di Pietro’s attachment to La Serenissima was beginning.  This work would appear to predate the influence and style of Gentile da Fabriano that Zanino was thought to have adopted later on in his career. 

Unlike the majority of International Gothic works by this artist and others of the period that appear on the market, this work has been fortunate to not have been extensively restored; for example, no attempt has been made to put back the devotionally-rubbed areas of gold ground in order to suggest an original look, thus keeping intact a wonderfully rare six hundred-year-old patination.

This previously unrecorded work was recently discovered, conclusively authenticated and published after a programme of research that was undertaken by Marcus Westbury between April 2009 and March 2012.