Maestro della Misericordia (Active in Florence, circa 1370 - 1400) Virgin and Child surrounded by Saint Nicholas, Saint Jerome, Saint Lawrence and Saint Onuphre Oil and gold on panel, probably diminished in the lower part, lined and parqueted Virgin and Child surrounded by Saint Nicholas, Saint Jerome, Saint Lawrence and Saint Onuphrius, tempera and gold on panel, by the Maestro della Misericordia 13.38 x 19.29 in. 31 x 47 cm Provenance: European private collection The clear, pure range of colours and the strong physical characteristics - plastic solidity accompanied by square faces with almond-shaped eyes - are typical of the work of this Florentine painter from the second half of the 14th century, whose conventional name was coined by Richard Offner in 1958 after the Madonna of Mercy in the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence (inv. no. 8562). Among the hypotheses put forward to elucidate the identity of this artist, the art historian Miklos Boskovits suggests the unlikely possibility that it could be his contemporary Giovanni Gaddi, brother of Agnolo Gaddi. Well established in Florence, the Master of Mercy was influenced by the work of his colleagues active at the same period, such as Bernardo Daddi, Taddeo Gaddi and Giovanni di Milan. He sometimes worked in collaboration, as in the case of the triptych at Sant'Andrea de Montespertoli in Tuscany, which he created with the painter Niccolo di Pietro Gerini. Maestro della Misericordia (Active in Florence, circa 1370 - 1400) 31 x 47 cm