Agnolo Gaddi, (painter), Florentine, c. 1350 - 1396, Madonna and Child Enthroned with Twelve Angels, and with the Blessing Christ, shortly before 1387, tempera on poplar panel, overall: 204 × 80 cm (80 5/16 × 31 1/2 in.), Most early paintings are also mystery stories, making the art historians who study them detectives of a sort. Signatures were not routine, and the inscriptions on this large altarpiece name the saints depicted, not the artist who painted them. In this case, however, the elegant figures, pastel colors, and decorative effects have pointed experts almost unanimously to, Agnolo Gaddi (Florentine, c. 1350 - 1396), Florence’s most sought-after artist during the late 1300s. The more difficult question is who commissioned it, and for what place? Although hypothetical, one answer seems likely: that it was given by the prominent Florentine family of Benedetto di Nerozzo Alberti for the church of San Miniato, which stands atop one of the city’s highest hills.

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