Roquigny, from France, sells on 1 January 2019 a "Niccolo di Buonaccorso and his workshop" Virgin and Child triptych, estimated at 15,000 to 25,000 Euro.
The more detailed full description makes it clear that they don't believe it to be actually a work by Niccolo di Buonaccorso, but perhaps by a collaborator or pupil, which is not really the same as the short description made us believe. They also mention other artists like the Master of the Pieta, Paolo di Giovanni Fei, and Francesco di Vanuccio, and make it clear that the triptych must be placed in Siena.
An artist they don't mention though is the Master of San Jacopo a Mucciana, a Florentine (not Sienese) master active around 1390-1420. He has painted the almost same composition, not some similar work like the Buonaccorso shown above.
This work, from a private collection in Italy (two images from
Fondazione Zeri), is dated to the end of the 14th century, and is very close to the one for sale in many respects, much more so than the Buonaccorso.
The stipple effect in the clothing, the strange position of the Christ child, the general posture of the Virgin (central and in the annunciation), the decoration in the gold leaf paint... All this makes it clear that either the work for sale is a copy after the Master of San Jacopo a Mucciana, or both are based on the same work. The work for sale doesn't seem to be good enough to be directly by the Master of San Jacopo a Mucciana, but the condition isn't good enough to really judge this.
Some elements which differ between the two paintings seem to be taken from other works by the same Master: e.g. both the clothing of the virgin (the neckline), the hand position and the flower in it (very vague in the work for sale), and the child with a scroll and an orb, are taken from a Virgin and Child from the Museo di Santa Verdiana in Castelfiorentino.
An interesting work in any case, it may be worth the estimate, but it probably has not got the right attribution.
UPDATE: sold for 58,000 Euro instead!
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