Resumen de Andrea di Bonaiuto's painting in the National Gallery and S. Maria Novella: the memory of a church
An analysis of Virgin and Child with saints (circa 1365), a small painting attributed to Andrea di Bonaiuto da Firenze that is now in the National Gallery, London. Produced for the Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, Italy, the piece is unusual in both its shape and its iconography. The long, thin painting closely mirrors the arrangements of the chapels in the church, both in design and in iconography, indicating that both the painter and the patron were located at Santa Maria Novella when the work was produced. The piece may have been commissioned for a friar who required a “virtual” choir when he was away from the church. It may also have served a liturgical function outside the church but still within the confines of the Santa Maria Novella convent, in which case it is likely to have been commissioned by the prior of the convent.
