The figure of God the Father blessing, curiously painted in a starry sky at the top, still reflects a Gothic language while the rest of the panel, from the group of the Virgin and Child to the Angels praying, denotes a more three-dimensional manner. The square heads of Christ and the Angels show some unexpected resemblances with the ones of the more advanced “Familiare del Boccati”, and the face of the Virgin, as in general the other figures, correspond with a dating to the mid-15th Century, when the new generation of Matteo di Giovanni and Benvenuto di Giovanni was growing up in Siena. Although sold at Sotheby’s in 2021 as “Sienese School, mid-15th century,” Professor Gabriele Fattorini provisionally attributed the work in 2022 to the artist at a “very young” point in his career, at a time when he was at work with Vecchietta on the frescoes in the Siena Baptistry. And further reflecting on the work, Professor Fattorini took the view in 2023 that in fact “it could be and important work by the young Benvenuto when he worked together with Sano di Pietro on the Bolsena altarpiece, around 1457.” This is a good example of the complexities of attributions in the absence of clear records, but likewise of the importance of continuing research and scholarly analysis.
