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Lot Essay
Niccolò di Tommaso was among the most productive Florentine masters of the third quarter of the 14th century. He is first documented in Florence in 1346 as a member of the Arte dei medici e speziali, the guild to which painters at the time belonged. He was probably a pupil and collaborator of Jacopo and Nardo di Cione, who ran their own thriving workshop in the city and whose influence is evident in Niccolò’s work. He likely collaborated with Nardo on the frescoes of the Strozzi Chapel at Santa Maria Novella. In 1371, Niccolò is recorded in Naples, where he painted a triptych for the church of Sant’Antonio Abate in Foria (Naples, Museo di Capodimonte), a work that is thought to have been commissioned by Joanna I of Naples (1328-1382). Shortly thereafter, he executed a series of monumental frescoes at the Convento del Tau at Pistoia. This cycle, generally recognized as his masterpiece, had a considerable influence at Pistoia which, like the nearby town of Prato, although already under Florentine economic and political domination, remained a very active entity in its own right. Niccolò’s substantial oeuvre was first considered by Richard Offner, whose list was significantly expanded by Miklós Boskovits (Pittura Fiorentina alla vigilia del Rinascimento, Florence, 1978, p. 35, note 203).
This impressive triptych, which has always been ascribed to Niccolò di Tommaso, may have been made for a chapel or for the private devotion of its original owner. The format is typical of similar objects produced in the Trecento: at left, the Angel Gabriel kneels in the pinnacle, delivering his message of divine conception to the Virgin Mary, who can be seen opposite on the right in a pose of deference and humility as she receives the news. In the lower portion of the left wing, the events that take place nine months later unfold, as the Three Magi come to the manger at Bethlehem to greet and worship the Christ child. A pair of shepherds, who will visit him next, linger in the background. At right, the final act of Christ’s life – his Crucifixion – unfolds before a grief-stricken Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist, and Mary Magdalene. The central panel is surmounted by a small trefoil showing God the Father in benediction. Below, surrounded by six saints, a sorrowful Virgin Mary is seated on a throne with the Christ Child on her lap. She looks out to the viewer, inviting him or her to consider her Son’s suffering and offer devotion to Him.
This impressive triptych, which has always been ascribed to Niccolò di Tommaso, may have been made for a chapel or for the private devotion of its original owner. The format is typical of similar objects produced in the Trecento: at left, the Angel Gabriel kneels in the pinnacle, delivering his message of divine conception to the Virgin Mary, who can be seen opposite on the right in a pose of deference and humility as she receives the news. In the lower portion of the left wing, the events that take place nine months later unfold, as the Three Magi come to the manger at Bethlehem to greet and worship the Christ child. A pair of shepherds, who will visit him next, linger in the background. At right, the final act of Christ’s life – his Crucifixion – unfolds before a grief-stricken Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist, and Mary Magdalene. The central panel is surmounted by a small trefoil showing God the Father in benediction. Below, surrounded by six saints, a sorrowful Virgin Mary is seated on a throne with the Christ Child on her lap. She looks out to the viewer, inviting him or her to consider her Son’s suffering and offer devotion to Him.