Engaged arched cassetta frame
Apart from the damage to the base and some minor repairs, the original engaged frame on this "Madonna and Child with Saints Jerome, Bernardino, John the Baptist, and Anthony of Padua, and Two Angels" by Sano di Pietro (see also 1975.1.2311, 1975.1.40b) has a wonderful patina. The depressed arch keeps the frame from appearing to echo the Madonna's halo. this type of molding profile was used throughout the fifteenth century; the punched decoration is archaic. The halos and the static arrangement of the heads around the Madonna and Child also refelct a conservative taste in fifteenth-century style, as does the way the figures are cut off as if by a window frame.
This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.