Berlinghiero was the outstanding painter of 13th-century Lucca (the center of Tuscan cultural and commercial activity in the 11th century, until it was overtaken by Pisa, Florence, and Siena). This Madonna and Child—of exceptional beauty and importance—is one of only two that can be confidently attributed to him. The composition, like the inscription in Greek on either side of the Madonna's halo ("Mother of God"), provides a clear example of the Byzantine influence on Tuscan art of the period. Berlinghiero shows the infant Christ in the crook of the left arm of the Madonna, with his right hand raised in blessing, following a Byzantine formula for the Hodegetria, or Indicator of the Way. Typical of the artist, and of the Romanesque School that shaped him, are the expressive faces of the Madonna and Child.