Even the most luxurious or sacred artworks fall in and out of fashion and, as a result, may be moved from their original locations and eventually sold. This panel is a fragment of an altarpiece once situated behind the high altar in the spectacularly decorated church of Santa Croce, Florence. Elaborate polyptychs constructed of multiple painted panels and unified with gilt architectural frames were designed to be placed behind church altars. This particular spandrel likely crowned the polyptych’s central panel featuring the Virgin and Child—the only portion of the altarpiece signed by the artist Ugolino di Nerio. Trained in Siena, the painter is known to have completed commissions for the Florentine churches of Orsanmichele, Santa Maria Novella, and Santa Croce.
On either side of this decorative pointed arch, groups of angels look down toward a now-missing image of the Virgin and Child. Ugolino imbued each angel with individual personality and charm: they have delicate expressions, wear different-colored robes, and take various positions (one even leans his head on his hands using the physical arch for support). Ugolino’s masterful handling of glazes creates a prismatic group set against a golden heavenly sky, evoking the celestial realm.
The life of this altarpiece is one of twists and turns. Seen in situ in 1550 by Giorgio Vasari, it was moved to a side chapel by 1566 and noted as being stored in the Upper Dormitory of the church by 1785. Centuries passed, and portions of the altarpiece were irrevocably damaged; those parts in good condition were sold in the early nineteenth century, most ending up in the collection of William Young Ottley. He sold them again in the mid-nineteenth century, further fracturing the altar’s original assembly. Many of these panel paintings are now spread across collections in London, New York, and Berlin, among others. The panel featuring the Virgin and Child was already in poor condition when it was sold in the nineteenth century—its current location and the question of when the LACMA spandrel with angels was separated from it remain a mystery.
2024
