Art e Dossier

Originally, this octagonal panel was meant to decorate a wedding chest for an unknown client. The mythical language and several stylistic influences that are visible in the painting date it around his early training which, according to Vasari, took place in Angelico’s workshop. More recent scholars, however, say that he was trained in one of the early fifteenth century ateliers that overlooked Corso Adimari. The mythical story of Paris, the Trojan Prince, running off with Helen, the beautiful wife of Menelaus is traditionally set against a port landscape that is rendered in a perfect “courtly” style: the mythical Greek characters are dressed in contemporary clothes. The running child in the foreground looking at the viewer, is repeated in the dancing putti that were carved in the second choir of the Florence cathedral that was built between 1433 and 1439.

The frescoes in the church of San Fortunato at Montefalco were the first important commission that Gozzoli carried out alone after a period of intense work with Angelico. In the Umbrian convent he worked with his helpers who included Giovanni di Mugello, nephew of Beato Angelico. It was Frate Antonio, the general of the Observance of the Friars Minor of the province who commissioned Gozzoli to paint the frescoes. The fresco of Saint Fortunatus is currently on the church altar. It portrays the enthroned saint, flanked by two fragmentary angels. The painting is outstanding for its rendering of the saint’s face and the marked solidity and monumental nature of the figure.

The frescoes in the church of San Fortunato at Montefalco was the first important commission that Gozzoli carried out alone after a period of intense work with Angelico. In the Umbrian convent he worked with his helpers who included Giovanni di Mugello, nephew of Beato Angelico. It was Frate Antonio, the general of the Observance of the Friars Minor of the province who commissioned Gozzoli to paint the frescoes. The Madonna and Child Enthroned and Angel Playing Music is located on the right wall of the convent that survived some seventeenth century remodeling work. There was once another angel – that has since been cut off – to the right of the Virgin. The robust Virgin Mary, dressed in an ermine-lined blue robe is seated in a seashell niche that is elaborately framed with false marble heads and leaves.

The frescoes in the choir of the church of San Francesco at Montefalco are Gozzoli’s first monumental work. Dedicated to the life of St. Francis of Assisi, according to Bonaventure’s Legenda Major, the paintings were commissioned by FRATER IACOBUS DE MONTEFALCONE ORIDINIS MINORU[M] as we can see in the Latin inscription in the frescoes. The scenes aim at exalting the figure of Francis as the alter Christus and are they are arranged in a thematic and devotional rather than chronological sequence. The birth of the saint is set in a stable, witnessed by an ox and a donkey.

The frescoes in the choir of the church of San Francesco at Montefalco are Gozzoli’s first monumental work. Dedicated to the life of St. Francis of Assisi, according to Bonaventure’s Legenda Major, the paintings were commissioned by FRATER IACOBUS DE MONTEFALCONE ORIDINIS MINORU[M] as we can see in the Latin inscription in the frescoes. The scenes aim at exalting the figure of Francis as the alter Christus and are they are arranged in a thematic and devotional rather than chronological sequence. The scene with the Establishment of the Manger at Greccio is the most complex in the cycle as regards both architectural setting and perspective. According to tradition, with the pope’s permission, Francis reconstructed the scene of Christ’s birth in a grotto near Greccio using live animals and people. Here, the scene is set in a large church that allowed Benozzo to show off his skills with perspective.

The frescoes in the choir of the church of San Francesco at Montefalco are Gozzoli’s first monumental work. Dedicated to the life of St. Francis of Assisi, according to Bonaventure’s Legenda Major, the paintings were commissioned by FRATER IACOBUS DE MONTEFALCONE ORIDINIS MINORU[M] as we can see in the Latin inscription in the frescoes. The scenes aim at exalting the figure of Francis as the alter Christus and are they are arranged in a thematic and devotional rather than chronological sequence. In the scene of the sermon to the birds that is set in the countryside near Montefalco – on the right – there is a kneeling portrait of the friar Jacopo who probably inspired the entire cycle. It was possible to identify him by comparing this painting with the Madonna and Child with Saint Francis and Saint Bernardino (Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum) in which we see the same friar Jacopo as a donor, presented by St. Francis.

This was the central part of the altarpiece of the Compagnia della Purificazione e di San Zenobi, that was originally in the convent of San Marco in Florence. The painting was commissioned in 1461 and according to the terms of the contract, in the central portion Benozzo had to follow the iconography of Beato Angelico’s painting over the high altar in the church of San Marco. However, except for the landscape beyond the background wall, the similarity between the two paintings is actually rather generic. To the left of the Maestà are saints John the Baptist and Zenobius, to the right, Peter and Dominic. Kneeling in the foreground are saints Jerome and Francis. Dismantled and sold after the suppression of the religious orders, the original altarpiece comprised five sections of the predella that are now scattered in museums throughout the world (Berlin, Washington, Philadelphia, London and Milan), while the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence houses three figures of saints on a gold background (Bartholomew, John the Baptist and James) that decorated the right-hand pillar of the original frame.

Gozzoli painted the frescoes dedicated to Saint Augustine between the beginning of 1464 and 1465. The cycle winds through three overlapping orders and has to be read horizontally starting from the lower left. It is framed by pilasters that support a trabeation simulating a loggia beyond which the story unfolds according to a concept that Benozzo had used in the Scenes from the Life of Santa Rosa in Viterbo. This is the only group of fifteenth century frescoes in Tuscany dedicated to the saint and it focuses on the image of Augustine as a scholar and teacher according to the ideas promulgated by the Observants. Benozzo painted the Baptism of Saint Augustine in just three days, as we can see from the analysis of the “days”; he was helped throughout the work by Giusto d’Andrea, Giovanni di Mugello and probably Pier Francesco Fiorentino.

Gozzoli painted the frescoes dedicated to Saint Augustine between the beginning of 1464 and 1465. The cycle winds through three overlapping orders and has to be read horizontally starting from the lower left. It is framed by pilasters that support a trabeation simulating a loggia beyond which the story unfolds according to a concept that Benozzo had used in the Scenes from the Life of Santa Rosa in Viterbo. This is the only group of fifteenth century frescoes in Tuscany dedicated to the saint and it focuses on the image of Augustine as a scholar and teacher according to the ideas promulgated by the Observants.

On the Virgin’s throne we can read an inscription with the artist’s signature and date, OPUS BENOTII DE FLORENTIA MCCCCLXVI. This elegantly decorative and highly refined painting is evidence of Benozzo Gozzoli’s relationship with Umbria that was still vital ten years after his departure. The painting, that he did during his sojourn at San Gimignano was in the Observant Franciscan church of Santa Maria dell’Oro (near Terni) in the chapel of the Rustici family, one of the city’s most influential families. Considered as having been painted almost single-handedly, this is one of Benozzo’s best works that shows great attention to detail and chromatic shading.

This painting, also known as the Saint Andrew Altarpiece, still has its original, classic style frame and has the date, artist’s signature and name of the client, Girolamo de’Niccoli in two separate inscriptions. Found by Milanesi in 1841 it is one of the three Madonnas that Benozzo and his helpers painted in 1466. Originally it was on the altar dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the little church of Sant’Andrea near San Gimignano. As opposed to the other paintings of the Virgin that Benozzo did during the same period, here the Madonna is not seated on a throne, and the scene of the Annunciation appears on the cloak of Saint Prosperus. The angels are wearing diaconal clothes and hold baskets of red and white roses, traditional attributes of the Virgin.

Between 1464 and 1467 Benozzo worked at San Gimignano where the theologian fra’ Domenico Stramboli had engaged him to decorate the choir in the church of Sant’Agostino. The fresco of St. Sebastian was commissioned in 1464 and the inscription above the bottom decorative band bears the date, 17 January 1465 and the artist’s signature. The scene replaced an early painting of the Annunciation by Ventura di Moro and is symbolically related to the Saint Augustine intercessor of the church dedicated to him. The portrayal of Sebastian, one of the contra-pestem saints par excellence, is linked to the end of a severe plague epidemic that struck San Gimignano during the summer of 1464 and should thus be interpreted as an ex-voto. The saint, against whom two rows of archers are shooting arrows, symbols of the plague, appears serene in the middle of the composition, while Jesus and the Virgin Mary look on from above.