A Triptych For Christmas

 Nardo di Cione was considered the least-talented of three brothers. In his time, artists were seen more as craftsmen than "fine artists." Their skills often encompassed  several types of media. You can still see the frescoes of Nardo and his brothers in the Strozzi Chapel in Florence’s Santa Maria Novella.  "Madonna and Child With St Peter and St John the Evangelist" resides in the National Gallery in Washington, DC. He painted it in about 1360, when artists were transitioning from a stiffer Byzantine style to the more realistic Renaissance style.  Nardo and his brothers lived through the Great Bubonic Plague of 1348. Surely there was a sense of gratitude and relief in every artwork he created after surviving that. Hopefully, artists of today will carry those emotions in their hearts once Covid has subsided.