The Madonna and Child enthroned with Saints Francis of Assisi, James the Great, John the Baptist and Anthony Abbot, with The Crucifixion above

The name ‘Ventura Mori’ was discovered by Enzo Carli on the edge of the Virgin’s cloak in the small devotional panel in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena (E. Carli, ‘Chi è lo "Pseudo Ambrogio di Baldese"’, Studi di Storia dell'Arte in Onore di Valerio Mariani, Naples, 1972, p. 109). It gave a name to a group of pictures that had been attributed to the 'Pseudo-Ambrogio di Baldese'. Though this group is still far from being stylistically homogeneous, it has a common denominator in the combination of archaic and gothic elements with a more modern solidity in the figures. The panel in Siena remains the only known picture signed by the artist, and thus a small foundation for a comprehensive understanding of his long career, unless one considers the two extremely damaged yet documented frescoes for the Oratorio del Bigallo in Florence. Several documents mention Ventura: he was admitted to the Compagnia di San Luca in 1416, and by 1427 had set up a workshop in Via degli Adimari, Rome, with Giuliano di Jacopo and Marco di Filippo, specialising mainly in small pictures for private devotion. Professor Federico Zeri, in a letter to the previous owner, dated 8 May 1984, confirmed the attribution to Ventura di Moro.