Andrea del Castagno () or Andrea di Bartolo di Bargilla (; – 19 August 1457) was an
Italian painter
Following is a list of Italian painters (in alphabetical order) who are notable for their art.
A
*Niccolò dell'Abbate (1509/12–1571)
*Giuseppe Abbati (1836–1868)
*Angiolo Achini (1850–1930)
*Pietro Adami (c. 1730)
*Livio Agresti (1508 ...
from
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
, influenced chiefly by
Masaccio
Masaccio (, , ; December 21, 1401 – summer 1428), born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, was a Florentine artist who is regarded as the first great Italian painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance. According to Vasari, ...
and
Giotto di Bondone
Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto ( , ) and Latinised as Giottus, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the Gothic/Proto-Renaissance period. Gi ...
. His works include frescoes in
Sant'Apollonia
Sant'Apollonia was a former Benedictine convent, founded in 1339, just north of the center of Florence, in Italy.
Some of the remaining structures are demarcated on three sides by via Ventisette Aprile, via Santa Reparata, and Via San Gallo, locat ...
in Florence and the painted equestrian monument of
Niccolò da Tolentino
Niccolò Mauruzzi (or Mauruzi), best known as Niccolò da Tolentino ( – March 20, 1435) was an Italian condottiero.
Biography
A member of the Mauruzi della Stacciola family of Tolentino, he fled from that city in 1370 after a dispute with his ...
(1456) in the
Cathedral in Florence. He in turn influenced the
Ferrarese school
A Ferrarese is a citizen of Ferrara, Italy.
It may also refer to: People
* Adriana Ferrarese del Bene (c. 1755–after 1804), Italian operatic soprano
* Don Ferrarese (born 1929), former Major League Baseball pitcher
* Enrique Ferrarese (1882–19 ...
of
Cosmè Tura,
Francesco del Cossa and
Ercole de' Roberti
Ercole de' Roberti (c. 1451 – 1496), also known as Ercole Ferrarese or Ercole da Ferrara, was an Italian artist of the Early Renaissance and the School of Ferrara. He was profiled in Vasari's ''Le Vite delle più eccellenti pittori, sculto ...
.
Life
Early years
Frescoes in the San Tarasio Chapel, .">San Zaccaria.
Andrea del Castagno was born at
Castagno, a village near
Monte Falterona
Monte Falterona is a mountain in the Tuscan-Romagnolo Apeninnes, in the Casentino traditional region, standing at 1,654 m. It is part of the Casentino forests, Monte Falterona and Campigna National Park. The peak is crossed by the borders of t ...
, not far from Florence. During the war between Florence and Milan, he lived in
Corella, returning to his home after its end. In 1440 he moved to Florence under the protection of
Bernadetto de' Medici
Bernadetto de' Medici (died after 1576) was an Italian patrician who moved from Florence to Naples and established the Ottaiano branch of Medici - one of two Medici branches still extant.
Biography
A member of a cadet branch of the Medici fami ...
. Here he painted the portraits of the citizens hanged after the
Battle of Anghiari on the facade of the Palazzo del Podestà, gaining the nickname of ''Andrea degli Impiccati''.
Little is known about his formation, though it has been hypothesised that he apprenticed under Fra
Filippo Lippi
Filippo Lippi ( – 8 October 1469), also known as Lippo Lippi, was an Italian painter of the Quattrocento (15th century) and a Carmelite Priest.
Biography
Lippi was born in Florence in 1406 to Tommaso, a butcher, and his wife. He was orp ...
and
Paolo Uccello
Paolo Uccello ( , ; 1397 – 10 December 1475), born Paolo di Dono, was an Italians, Italian (Florentine) Florentine painting, painter and mathematician who was notable for his pioneering work on visual Perspective (graphical), perspective in art. ...
. In 1440–1441 he executed the fresco of ''Crucifixion and Saints'' in the
Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova
The Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova (i.e. ''Ospedale di Santa Maria Nuova'' in Italian) is the oldest hospital still active in Florence, Italy.
History and artistic profile
Origins
The hospital was founded in 1288 by Folco Portinari, the father ...
, whose perspective-oriented construction and figures shows the influence of Masaccio.
In 1442 he was in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
where he executed frescoes in the San Tarasio Chapel of the church of
San Zaccaria
The Church of San Zaccaria is a 15th-century former monastic church in central Venice, Italy. It is a large edifice, located in the Campo San Zaccaria, just off the waterfront to the southeast of Piazza San Marco and St Mark's Basilica. It is de ...
. Later he also worked in
St Mark's Basilica
The Patriarchal Cathedral Basilica of Saint Mark ( it, Basilica Cattedrale Patriarcale di San Marco), commonly known as St Mark's Basilica ( it, Basilica di San Marco; vec, Baxéłega de San Marco), is the cathedral church of the Catholic Chu ...
, leaving a fresco of ''Death of the Virgin'' (1442–1443).
Back in Florence, he designed a stained window with ''Deposition'' for
the local Cathedral. On May 30, 1445 he became a member of the Guild of the Medicians. From the same year is the fresco of ''Madonna with Child and Santi'' in the Contini Bonacossi Collection (
Uffizi
The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...
).
''The Last Supper''
In 1447 Castagno worked in the refectory of the Benedictine nuns at
Sant'Apollonia
Sant'Apollonia was a former Benedictine convent, founded in 1339, just north of the center of Florence, in Italy.
Some of the remaining structures are demarcated on three sides by via Ventisette Aprile, via Santa Reparata, and Via San Gallo, locat ...
in Florence, painting, in the lower part, a fresco of the
Last Supper
Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...
, accompanied above by other scenes portraying the Passion of Christ: ''Crucifixion'', ''Entombment'', and ''Resurrection'', which are now damaged. This combination of scenes is not known to have been represented before. He also painted a lunette in the convent's cloister, depicting a ''Pietà''. Many important Florentine families had daughters in the convent at Sant'Apollonia, so painting there likely brought Andrea to their attention.
The ''Last Supper'' displays Andrea del Castagno's talents at their best. The detail and naturalism of this fresco portray the ways in which he departed from earlier artistic styles. It is likely that
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
was already familiar with this work before he painted
his own Last Supper in a more dramatic form to contrast with the stillness of these works, so that more emotion would be displayed.
]
Late activity
In 1449–1450 he painted the ''
Assumption of the Virgin (Andrea del Castagno), Assumption with Saints Julian and Miniato'' for the main altar (in the St. Julian Chapel) of the church of San Miniato fra le Torri in Florence (now in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
).
In the same years he collaborated with
Filippo Carducci to paint a series of ''Illustrious People'' for the Villa Carducci at
Legnaia. These include
Pippo Spano
}, bg, Филип Маджарин).
Annotations
).
References
Sources
*
*
*
External links
{{Authority control
1369 births
1426 deaths
Nobility from Florence
14th-century Hungarian people
15th-century Hungarian people
14th-centur ...
,
Farinata degli Uberti
Manente degli Uberti (1212 – 11 November 1264), known as Farinata degli Uberti, was an Italian aristocrat and military leader of the Ghibelline faction in Florence. He was considered to be a heretic by some of his contemporaries, including Dan ...
,
Niccolò Acciaioli
Niccolò Acciaioli or Acciaiuoli (1310 – 8 November 1365) was an Italian noble, a member of the Florentine banking family of the Acciaioli. He was the grand seneschal of the Kingdom of Naples and count of Melfi, Malta, and Gozo in the mid- ...
,
Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...
,
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists.
Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited w ...
,
Giovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was somet ...
, the
Cumaean Sibyl
The Cumaean Sibyl was the priestess presiding over the Apollonian oracle at Cumae, a Greek colony located near Naples, Italy. The word ''sibyl'' comes (via Latin) from the ancient Greek word ''sibylla'', meaning prophetess. There were many sibyls ...
,
Esther
Esther is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther. In the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus seeks a new wife after his queen, Vashti, is deposed for disobeying him. Hadassah, a Jewess who goes by the name of Esther, is chosen ...
and
Tomiri.
Also from around 1450 is the ''Crucifixion'' in London, as well as the ''
David with Goliath's Head'' and the ''Portrait of a Man,'' both in Washington.
Between January 1451 and September 1453 he completed the frescoes with ''Scenes of the
Life of the Virgin
The Life of the Virgin, showing narrative scenes from the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is a common subject for pictorial cycles in Christian art, often complementing, or forming part of, a cycle on the Life of Christ. In both cases the nu ...
'' left unfinished by
Domenico Veneziano
Domenico Veneziano (c. 1410 – May 15, 1461) was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance, active mostly in Perugia and Tuscany.
Little is known of his birth, though he is thought to have been born in Venice, hence his last name. He then moved ...
in the Florentine church of Sant'Egidio, Florence (now lost). In October Filippo Carducci commissioned him to paint frescoes for his villa at Soffiano, of which today an ''Eve'' and a ruined ''Madonna with Child'' survive.
In 1455 Andrea del Castagno worked in the
Basilica della Santissima Annunziata (frescoes with the ''Trinity with Saints Jerome, Paula and Eustochium'' and ''St. Julian and the Redeemer'', the former showing a stressed realism). Also in those years is attributed a ''Crucifixion'' for St. Apollonia. In 1456 he executed in the Florentine Cathedral the fresco of the ''
Equestrian Monument of Niccolò da Tolentino
The ''Equestrian Monument of Niccolò da Tolentino'' (1456) is a fresco painting by the early-Italian Renaissance master Andrea del Castagno, in Florence Cathedral, Italy. On the left internal wall of the church, it is next to the earlier fresco ' ...
'', paralleling
the similar painting by Paolo Uccello portraying
John Hawkwood
Sir John Hawkwood ( 1323 – 17 March 1394) was an English soldier who served as a mercenary leader or '' condottiero'' in Italy. As his name was difficult to pronounce for non-English-speaking contemporaries, there are many variations of it in ...
.
Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculpt ...
, an artist and biographer of the
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...
, alleged that Castagno murdered Domenico Veneziano, but this is impossible, since Veneziano died in 1461, four years after Castagno died of the
plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pes ...
. It has been suggested that Vasari was confusing this murder case with another one involving a "Domenico di Matteo" who was killed by an "Andreino" in 1448, but the archival record shows that this is a misreading: "A cursory examination reveals two things: first, that the name of the dead painter is not Domenico di Matteo, but Domenico di Marco; and second, and much more crucially, that there is no mention of him having been killed by a painter named Andrea or Andreino."
[Charles Nicholl,]
Death in Florence
" ''London Review of Books'' Vol. 34 No. 4, 23 February 2012, p. 10.
Selected works
Villa Carducci-Pandolfini">
File:DanteFresco.jpg, ''Dante
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...
''
File:Andrea del Castagno - Famous Persons - The Cumean Sibyl - WGA00343.jpg, Cumaean Sibyl
The Cumaean Sibyl was the priestess presiding over the Apollonian oracle at Cumae, a Greek colony located near Naples, Italy. The word ''sibyl'' comes (via Latin) from the ancient Greek word ''sibylla'', meaning prophetess. There were many sibyls ...
File:Petrarch by Bargilla.jpg, Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists.
Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited w ...
File:Andrea del Castagno - Pippo Spano, Niccolò Acciaiuoli, Francesco Petrarca - Google Art Project.jpg, Condottiere Pippo Spano
}, bg, Филип Маджарин).
Annotations
).
References
Sources
*
*
*
External links
{{Authority control
1369 births
1426 deaths
Nobility from Florence
14th-century Hungarian people
15th-century Hungarian people
14th-centur ...
File:Andrea del Castagno Giovanni Boccaccio c 1450.jpg, Giovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was somet ...
File:Andrea del Castagno - Famous Persons - Farinata degli Uberti - WGA00341.jpg, Farinata degli Uberti
Manente degli Uberti (1212 – 11 November 1264), known as Farinata degli Uberti, was an Italian aristocrat and military leader of the Ghibelline faction in Florence. He was considered to be a heretic by some of his contemporaries, including Dan ...
File:Andrea del Castagno - Niccolò Acciauoli.jpg, Niccolò Acciaioli
Niccolò Acciaioli or Acciaiuoli (1310 – 8 November 1365) was an Italian noble, a member of the Florentine banking family of the Acciaioli. He was the grand seneschal of the Kingdom of Naples and count of Melfi, Malta, and Gozo in the mid- ...
File:Andrea del castagno, Ciclo degli uomini e donne illustri, 1448-51, 03 regina esther.jpg, Queen Esther
File:Andrea del castagno, Ciclo degli uomini e donne illustri, 1448-51, 04 regina tomiri.jpg, Queen Tomyris
* ''
Assumption of the Virgin Between St Minias and St Julian'' (1449–1450),
Gemäldegalerie, Berlin
References
Further reading
* Castagno, Andrea. ''Andrea del Castagno: complete edition with a critical catalogue''. Oxford:
Phaidon Press
Phaidon Press is a global publisher of books on art, architecture, design, fashion, photography, and popular culture, as well as cookbooks, children's books, and travel books. The company is based in London and New York City, with additional off ...
, 1980.
* Horster, Marita. ''Andrea del Castagno: complete edition with a critical catalogue''. Ithaca, N.Y:
Cornell University Press
The Cornell University Press is the university press of Cornell University; currently housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage. It was first established in 1869, making it the first university publishing enterprise in th ...
, 1980.
* Spencer, John. ''Andrea del Castagno and his patrons''. Durham:
Duke University Press
Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921 by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 Du ...
, 1991.
External links
Andrea del Castagno at the National Gallery of Art
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castagno, Andrea Del
Italian Renaissance painters
Painters from Florence
Quattrocento painters
1420s births
1457 deaths
Fresco painters
Italian male painters
Painters from Tuscany
15th-century people of the Republic of Florence
15th-century deaths from plague (disease)
15th-century Italian painters