Giotto's Madonna of St. George at the Coast on display at Florence Cathedral Museum

The painting "Madonna di San Giorgio alla Costa " has been put back on display at the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo in Florence. The work, still kept in Florence but at the Museo Diocesano di Santo Stefano al Ponte (currently closed to the public), was damaged 25 years ago during theVia dei Georgofili bombing and, after restoration, has been displayed in various exhibitions.The painting was presented by Archbishop Giuseppe Betori, the president of theOpera di Santa Maria del Fiore, Luca Bagnoli, and the director, Timothy Verdon.

Cardinal Betori said, “Giotto’s Madonna of San Giorgio alla Costa, already offended by the attack on Via de’ Georgofili, was in danger of remaining almost inaccessible, enclosed in a depository. Hence the Archdiocese’s decision to seek a location that will allow everyone to admire this early work by Giotto and to recognize in it a significant expression of the faith of this city towards the end of the 13th century. The image of Mary and the Child that Giotto proposes in this panel will be able to be placed in dialogue with the forms of sculpture by Arnolfo di Cambio and the other artists who have left traces of their genius in our cathedral.”

President Fiore Luca Bagnoli added, “Welcoming masterpieces like this means recognizing the raison d’être of our institution. In fact, alongside the preservation and enhancement of our monuments we are called to spread the culture and Christian values represented in these works.”

The “Madonna of San Giorgio alla Costa” was painted by Giotto at the end of the 13th century, but the exact date is unknown: considering the style later than that developed by the artist in the frescoes of the Upper Basilica of Assisi, it is assumed that the painting was made around 1295.

Timothy Verdon explained, "This hypothesis brings the panel closer to the years of planning and start of work on the Cathedral of Florence, between 1294 and 1296, also dedicated to Mary. Both the Gothic form of the throne back and the use of mosaic inserts and pink marble moldings fall within the decorative lexicon developed by Arnolfo di Cambio, the cathedral’s first architect. A comparison, which the placement of the painting in the museum space called Belvedere, from which the reconstruction of Arnolfo’s facade can be seen, is meant to suggest."

Image: Giotto, Madonna di San Giorgio alla Costa (ca. 1295; tempera and gold on panel, 180 x 90 cm; Florence, Museo Diocesano di Santo Stefano al Ponte)

Giotto's Madonna of St. George at the Coast on display at Florence Cathedral Museum

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