Lot Essay
Corso di Buono is recorded as one of the two Rectors of the Painters' Guild in Florence in 1295, together with one Rossello di Lottiere (Sir D. Colnaghi, A Dictionary of Florentine Painters, Florence, 1986, p. 78, no. 100). However, it was not until the discovery of frescoes signed 'Corso' in the church of San Lorenzo in Montelupo that this historical personality could be associated with an actual painter. The present panel, which is a characteristic example of Corso di Buono's work, reveals him to have been aware of the achievements of Cimabue and the young Duccio. It was dated to 1290-1295 by Garrison loc. cit, and this seem perfectly convincing.
The scenes shows the Madonna enthroned with her fully clothed Son. At their feet are the exceptionally diminutive figures of male and female donors, kneeling in prayer and clad in expensively fur-trimmed garments. Up above, on an intermediate scale between the donors and the Madonna and Child are Saints Bartholomew and Dominic. The latter is identified by his black and white habit, while the former is holding the flaying-knife which is the instrument of his martyrdom and hence his attribute. The way these figures appear to float in space may come as a surprise to modern eyes, and Vasari - for whom realism was all-important - certainly criticised painters whose figures stood on tiptoes, but similar mannerisms are to be found in the works of Corso di Buono's most illustrious contemporaries. It was only with Giotto that the time-honoured Byzantine style manner began to look old-fashioned.
The scenes shows the Madonna enthroned with her fully clothed Son. At their feet are the exceptionally diminutive figures of male and female donors, kneeling in prayer and clad in expensively fur-trimmed garments. Up above, on an intermediate scale between the donors and the Madonna and Child are Saints Bartholomew and Dominic. The latter is identified by his black and white habit, while the former is holding the flaying-knife which is the instrument of his martyrdom and hence his attribute. The way these figures appear to float in space may come as a surprise to modern eyes, and Vasari - for whom realism was all-important - certainly criticised painters whose figures stood on tiptoes, but similar mannerisms are to be found in the works of Corso di Buono's most illustrious contemporaries. It was only with Giotto that the time-honoured Byzantine style manner began to look old-fashioned.