Florence, Spinello Aretino's precious triptych in the Accademia Gallery goes for restoration

The Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence has launched a major restoration project for the triptych of the Madonna and Child Enthroned and Four Angels between Saints Paulinus, John the Baptist, Andrew and Matthew, painted by Spinello Aretino (Arezzo, c. 1350 - 1410) and dated 1391. The intervention, which will last about a year, is an opportunity to deepen our knowledge of one of the great masters of Tuscan painting between the late 14th and early 15th centuries.

In the meantime, in place of Spinello Aretino’s triptych, visitors will be able to admire a rare work by Niccolò di Pietro Gerini (Florence, news from 1368 - 1415), a Madonna and Child Enthroned between Saints John the Baptist and Zanobi, dating from around 1395-1400. This work, previously not on display, offers a different look at Tuscan artistic production in the late 14th century, enriching the museum experience with an interesting new addition.

Spinello di Luca, known as Spinello Aretino, is considered one of the leading interpreters of Tuscan late Gothic painting. His works, characterized by a chromatic refinement and compositional elegance that influenced many artists of the time, were commissioned in several cities, from Arezzo to Florence, via Pisa, Siena and Lucca. The triptych now being restored constitutes a fundamental element in understanding his style and career. The work is signed and dated 1391, a rare occurrence for altarpieces of the period, and was commissioned by Lucchese merchant Paolino di Simonino di Bonagiunta for the Oratory of Sant’Andrea in Lucca.

An important work and a complex intervention

The subjects depicted in the triptych’s side panels, Saints Paulinus, John the Baptist, Andrew and Matthew, are not accidental: in addition to paying homage to St. Andrew, the church’s titular saint, they also celebrate the patron and his brothers through a subtle play of nominal references. Although the original cusps and plinth are missing, the triptych remains a masterpiece that can tell the story of late medieval figurative and devotional culture.

The restoration is presented as a complex intervention, necessitated by the deterioration of the pictorial surface, obscured by dust deposits and overlapping layers that have compromised its legibility. The operation, coordinated by a team of experts composed of Andrea and Lucia Dori, Roberto Buda and Ottaviano Caruso, will be supervised by the Academy Gallery Management, represented by Elvira Altiero and Eleonora Pucci.

The work will be preceded by a high-definition photographic imaging campaign, which is essential to study in depth Spinello Aretino’s materials and execution techniques. Preliminary studies have already revealed traces of earlier restorations, probably carried out before the triptych was acquired by the Florentine Galleries in 1850.

Subsequent operations will focus on the gradual cleaning of the pictorial surface and chromatic reintegration, with the aim of restoring the work to its original formal and chromatic balance, respecting the traces of time.

Florence, Spinello Aretino's precious triptych in the Accademia Gallery goes for restoration

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