MASTER of the Straus Madonna
(active 1385-1415 in Florence)

Virgin and Child with Music-Making Angels

1400-10
Tempera on panel, 75 x 46 cm
The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown

This panel has been linked to a group of works attributed to the Master of the Straus Madonna. The artist's name derives from a painting that once belonged to Percy Straus, whose family owned the Macy's retail company. The solidly modeled forms and the tender relationship between mother and child are innovative characteristics that contrast with the panel's traditional gold background and decorative patterning.