Cristoforo di Benedetto ( Bologna tra 1456-1497)

"Madonna and Child Enthroned with Donor", tempera on gold ground panel by Cristoforo di Benedetto (documented in Bologna between 1456 and 1497). This panel perfectly illustrates the transition experienced by Bolognese artistic culture after the mid-fifteenth century, between late Gothic reminiscences and incipient Renaissance openings. The work can undoubtedly be assigned to Cristoforo di Benedetto, as widely argued in the exhaustive sheet prepared by Prof. Mauro Minardi. Intended for private devotion, the panel can be dated to around 1460, as it does not yet reflect the pictorial influence of Marco Zoppo and Giovan Francesco da Rimini, found in the triptych of the National Pinacoteca of Bologna (signed and dated "Xpoforus pinxit 1467") and in the polyptych of Budrio. The painting is intact in its dimensions, with the paint film in very good condition. It is inserted into a gilded frame in pure gold leaf, of recent manufacture. Panel measures 44.5x31.2 with frame 49.5x35.5