Cimabue, Madonna di Santa Trinita, 1280, Santa Trinita Church in Florence

This Madonna, which is similar in structure to the same artist’s Madonna at the Louvre, still shows the influence of the Byzantine tradition, but it involves an unprecedented tension in the profiles in an attempt to create spatial depth.

Duccio di Buoninsegna, Rucellai Madonna, 1285, Santa Maria Novella in Florence

The Rucellai Madonna was commissioned by the Society of the Virgin Mary, or the Laudesi, in Florence. Later incorporated into the Rucellai family chapel in the church of Sta. Maria Novella in Florence. Giorgio Vasari, a Florentine painter and a biographer of early Renaissance painters, attributed this work to Cimabue, which was accepted until the last century.

Giotto di Bondone, Ognissanti Madonna, 1310, Church of Ognissanti in Florence

Different from other similar paintings of Maesta of that time (e.g. Duccio’s Maesta), which had a relatively wide format with numerous saints kneeling and standing in rows to the left and right of the Virgin's throne, Giotto’s panel is vertical in format and thus approaches the size and proportions of the older type of portrayal of the Madonna. This aspect is made particularly clear in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, where the Ognissanti Madonna is exhibited next to Duccio's Rucellai Madonna and the Madonna S. Trinità by Cimabue.

Masaccio, Maesta, Centre panel of the Pisa altarpiece, 1430, Santa Maria del Carmine in Pisa

The painting is the central panel of a large, 19 piece winged altarpiece commissioned by a Pisan notary, Ser Giuliano degli Scarsi, for the chapel of Saint Julian in Santa Maria del Carmine, Pisa. This altarpiece shows an early use of single-point linear perspective - it can be seen on the orthogonal on the cornice of her throne. Masaccio may been influenced by the sculptor Donatello who is known to have collected payments for the altarpiece on Masaccio's behalf.

Filippo Lippi, Tarquinia Madonna, 1430

Lippi probably received the commission for this painting from Monsignor Vitelleschi, Papal military commander the Archbishop of Florence from 1435 to 1437. Vitelleschi owned a palace at Corneto (now Tarquinia), where Lippi's Madonna and Child seems to have once been housed. The painting is characterized by its spatial and perspectival structure, and a plastic quality in the figures.

Michelangelo, Tondo Doni, 1505

One of only four surviving paintings of Michelangelo. Painted for the merchant Angolo Doni to commemorate his marriage to Maddalena Strozzi, it is the only painting on wood which can be historically attributed to Michelangelo. The frame is original and was designed by Michelangelo and is decorated with the coat of arms of the Strozzi family.

Giovanni Bellini, Madonna of the Meadow, 1505

Its transfer from wood to canvas in 1949 compromised the quality of its colour composition, especially in the group of the Madonna and Child. The figures' poses invite meditation on Jesus's death and passion, recalling Pietà compositions in which his dead body is laid across his mother's lap.

Raphael, Sistine Madonna, 1513, Church of San Sisto in Piacenza

The painting was probably intended to decorate the tomb of Julius II. The canvas was located in the convent of St Sixtus in Piacenza and was later donated by the monks to Augustus III of Saxony. The Nazis had the painting locked in the museum's vault, which meant the painting survived the allied bombings. It was carried to Moscow after the Second World War, and was later returned to Dresden.

Parmigianino, Madonna della Rosa, 1530

Typical for Parmigianino’s work, characterized by elongation of form. Parmigianino painted it for Aretino, before donating it to Pope Clement VII.