Bernard Berenson’s opinion, formulated in 1932, that this panel is by the Sienese painter Sano di Pietro has not been questioned by any subsequent scholars.¹ Percy S. Straus, who had a particular passion for gold-ground paintings, had acquired it in 1925, the same year he also acquired four panels by Andrea di Bonaiuto (Andrea da Firenze) (cat. 4), a Madonna and Child by Antonio Vivarini (cat. 11), and a tabernacle with two painted panels, possibly from the workshop of Lorenzo Monaco (cat. 9). Of these, the present painting is the best preserved—indeed, its state is virtually pristine, unchanged since its inception.

Sano di Pietro, whose full name was Ansano di Pietro di Mencio, was a prolific and highly regarded painter in Siena, where he had joined the painter’s guild in 1428. He is believed to have been the student of Sassetta (1392–1450), and his works are found throughout the churches and public spaces of his native city.² He seems to have operated a successful workshop, which turned out a great number of small devotional paintings similar to the present work. Although active during the middle decades of the century, Sano retains the elegant linear style and love of richly patterned textiles of earlier Sienese masters, while largely disregarding the innovations of the Florentine Renaissance painters. The emphasis on sinuous outlines is particularly apparent here in the figures of the Madonna and Child.

The Madonna, holding the Child on her right arm, stands close to the foreground, while the two elderly saints stand a little behind her at left and right. Saint Jerome is distinguished by his red cardinal’s robes, while Saint Bernardino holds up the plaque with the inscription of the Holy Name of Jesus, which he held aloft at the end of his extremely popular sermons. Above each saint, three angels, wearing wreaths of flowers and leaves respectively, appear in rows all the way to the top of the panel. The composition is virtually identical to that of a panel held by the Harvard Art Museums (fig. 13.1), also attributed to Sano di Pietro. The main differences, including the placement of the Virgin’s hand, the arrangement of the Child’s legs, and the objects in his hands, are simply variations. Other versions similar to the Houston panel are found in the Royal Collection, London; the Musées Royaux, Brussels; the Lindenau-Museum, Altenburg; and the Lehman Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.³ Sano repeated his successful images so often and in a such a formulaic manner that he has been dismissed by some scholars as nothing more than a gifted craftsman.⁴ The close similarities of his works indicate that they may have been made with the help of cartoons, used by workshop assistants with little input by the master. This practice, which seems unacceptable by today’s standards, was in Sano’s time proof of a successful artist, running a profitable business.

—Helga Kessler Aurisch