Enthroned Virgin and Child

This charming small panel, which was in all likelihood an object of private devotion, testifies to the diversity of painterly production in the Prague milieu at the end of the 14th century. When the Master of the Třeboň Altarpiece appeared on the scene in the 1380s, the local workshops reacted to his style in different ways. The author of the present painting, which was discovered in 1956 in an antique store in Hradec Králové, drew on the facial type and elegant, rhythmical drapery of the Třeboň Altarpiece saints. However, he also clearly followed the older Bohemian tradition in the period of the rule of Charles IV, as evident from the motif of Jesus playing with an apple and his non-transparent cloth chiton. In terms of decorative techniques, the painting is quite austere, in correspondence with its function as a private devotional object, likely commissioned by a patron from outside the top social circles.