These two small panels have long been associated with a work today in the Statens Museum for Kunst / National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen, depicting an enthroned Virgin with Child with saints and angels (fig. 3.1). Richard Offner discovered their relationship and published the hypothetical triptych in 1945.¹ The following year, the Copenhagen panel was published as a work by Jacopo di Cione by the Statens Museum, which continues to ascribe it to him, but suggests Andrea da Firenze as the author.² Offner had first proposed a direct pupil of Orcagna as the author, but later suggested that it was a work by a Nardesque Master of the Statens Madonna, an unknown follower of Nardo di Cione.³ Other scholars have pointed to various artists in the circle of Orcagna, Andrea da Firenze, and Andrea di Bonaiuto, but no consensus has been reached at this point.⁴

Following the standard chronological arrangement, The Nativity of the Straus Collection would certainly have been the left lateral wing, and Christ on the Cross with the Virgin, Saint John, and Saint Mary Magdalen would have been placed on the right. The stylistic similarities of these panels with the Copenhagen work make an indisputable argument for their original association. The Virgin is wearing same orange dress with a particular pattern in gold. Furthermore, the faces are very similar, despite the fact that the painter took great care to vary Mary’s expression. The punchwork of the halos and of the ribbons running along the inner frames is virtually identical. The liberal use of precious materials points to a commission to a well-known artist skilled in their use. The application of gold is quite extensive: it is found in the depiction of the sky in The Nativity, throughout the background of Christ on the Cross, and on the garments of the Virgin and the Christ Child, the blanket covering the crib, and the throne and cloth of honor in the central panel. Ultramarine, the most costly blue pigment, is found in the Virgin’s mantle,⁵ a sure indication of an expensive work of art.

Whereas the numerous halos of the saints and angels are rhythmically arranged in the central panel, punctuating the composition like musical notes, The Nativity panel displays a strong orthogonal structure. The small composition is clearly divided by heavy horizontal and vertical beams. The figures in the fore-, middle-, and background are organized into the resulting compartments. The composition of Christ on the Cross is also carefully balanced, but it lacks the heavy architectural elements.

Great similarities with a triptych in a private Swiss collection have been noted. Here, the Christ on the Cross scene is placed in the middle, flanked by scenes of the Passion. In particular, the body and head of Christ are virtually identical, and there is a strong similarity in the depictions of the Virgin and Mary Magdalen. The Swiss triptych is of slightly lesser quality than the Straus panels and the Copenhagen panel, but there can be no doubt they were created by the same painter.⁶

—Helga Kessler Aurisch