The Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints (centre panel) (recto), 1338 (tempera and gold leaf...

This triptych is an outstanding example of the type of portable paintings produced for private patrons in fourteenth-century Italy. Its scale and subject matter encouraged a personal meditation on the life of Christ. The Florentine Bernardo Daddi began his career as an apprentice of Giotto, who is credited with introducing a more naturalist style, expression and sense of volume in Italian painting.Daddi’s own workshop was prolific and specialised in small devotional tabernacles. This triptych ranks amongst the finest of his production: the shimmering gold and expensive pigments, combined with Daddi’s delight in rendering lively details, create a work of rare beauty and invention.