Page 1 - Christie's Collecting Guide to Gold-Ground Paintings

Collecting guide: gold-ground paintings

An illuminating overview of a tradition that flourished in religious centres across Europe, but
particularly in Florence and Siena, bringing divine richness to Italian art at the dawn of the
Renaissance — illustrated with works offered at Christie’s

Fra Angelico (circa 1395/1400-1455), The Crucifixion with the Virgin, Saint John the
Baptist and the Magdalen. Tempera on gold ground panel. 25⅛ x 15 in (59.7 x 34.2 cm).
Sold for £5,001,000 on 6 July 2023 at Christie’s in London

The term ‘gold-ground’ usually refers to religious panel paintings made during the late Middle
Ages in Italy. Technically speaking, a gold-ground artwork is any with a background made
from gold leaf. It can be a painting, mosaic or manuscript illumination — all of which have
had gold applied to them for around 1,500 years.

However, when art historians use the term, it’s normally in reference to paintings of the
Virgin, Christ and saints made on gold-leaf-covered panels of wood between the second half
of the 13th century and the early 15th century.

A handful of these works come from France, Spain and central Europe, but the vast majority
are Italian. There, the two greatest centres of production were Florence and Siena, although
other republics and kingdoms, including Genoa, Venice and Naples, also had their own
schools.