Gherardo Starnina: Head of an Angel; Gherardo Starnina; 1404-1406; Tempera and gold on panel; This small panel by the Florentine painter Gherardo Starnina is a fragment of a much larger altarpiece featuring the Virgin and Child surrounded by angels and saints. The blue shapes along the panel's right side are recognizable as a cloud and the edge of a mandorla - an almond-shaped body halo - which usually enveloped the Virgin Mary in the art of late medieval Italy. The altarpiece was commissioned by Cardinal Angelo Acciaiuoli (d. 1408) a chapel in the Galluzzo monastery just outside of Florence. Founded in 1341; the Galluzo monastery was a bastion of humanistic learning and rich in artistic treasures until its destruction in the nineteenth century.; Overall: 6 3/4 x 6 1/2 in. (17.1 x 16.5 cm)