Bartolomeo di Giovanni The Madonna and Infant Saint John the Baptist Adoring the Christ Child

Bartolomeo di Giovanni di Domenico (1458? – 1501) was an

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 ...

painter active in

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 ...

. His works were first identified by the art historian

Bernard Berenson Bernard Berenson (June 26, 1865 – October 6, 1959) was an American art historian specializing in the Renaissance. His book ''The Drawings of the Florentine Painters'' was an international success. His wife Mary is thought to have had a large h ...

, who did not know the painter's real name so called him the "Alunno di Domenico" (i.e., "student of

Domenico Ghirlandaio Domenico di Tommaso Curradi di Doffo Bigordi (, , ; 2 June 1448 – 11 January 1494), professionally known as Domenico Ghirlandaio, also spelled as Ghirlandajo, was an Italian Renaissance painter born in Florence. Ghirlandaio was part of ...

"). This name was based on Berenson's observation that the painter executed the

predella In art a predella (plural predelle) is the lowest part of an altarpiece, sometimes forming a platform or step, and the painting or sculpture along it, at the bottom of an altarpiece, sometimes with a single much larger main scene above, but oft ...

of Ghirlandaio's ''Adoration of the Magi'' (1488) in the

Ospedale degli Innocenti The Ospedale degli Innocenti (;) 'Hospital of the Innocents', also known in old Tuscan dialect as the ''Spedale degli Innocenti'', is a historic building in Florence, Italy. It was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, who received the commission in ...

, the foundling hospital in Florence. Archival research later yielded the painter's real name as Bartolomeo di Giovanni. Bartolomeo also collaborated with

Sandro Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), known as Sandro Botticelli (, ), was an Italian Renaissance painting, Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th cent ...

. Bartolomeo di Giovanni painted many narrative panels, including predella, cassone and spalliera panels. He also painted altarpieces, such as the ''Madonna and Child with Four Saints'' (1498) for San Giovanni di Boldrone, Florence, now at the

Mount Holyoke College Art Museum The Mount Holyoke College Art Museum (established 1876) in South Hadley, Massachusetts, is located on the Mount Holyoke College campus and is a member of Museums10. It is one of the oldest teaching museums in the country, dedicated to providing ...

. The painter should not be confused with the Italian sculptor and architect Bartolomeo di Giovanni d'Astore Sinibaldi (1469–1535), or with the Italian painter and architect, Bartolommeo di Giovanni Corradini, known as Fra Carnevale (1416-1484). He is also not the same as the two other late fifteenth-century Florentines with similar names: Bartolomeo di Giovanni Masini, a ''sargiaio'' (cloth painter), or Bartolomeo di Giovanni del Fora, a ''cartolaio'' (stationer).

References

* Cadogan, Jean K., ''Maestri toscani del Quattrocento: Lorenzo Monaco, Ghiberti, Paolo Uccello, Filippo Lippi, Pesellino, Andrea del Castagno, Ghirlandaio, Bartolomeo di Giovanni, Benozzo Gozzoli'', Firenze: Istituto Alinari, 1980. * Pons, Nicoletta, ''Bartolomeo di Giovanni, collaboratore di Ghirlandaio e Botticelli.'' Firenze: Polistampa, 2004. * Garzelli, Annarosa, ''Il ricamo nella attività artistica di Pollaiolo, Botticelli, Bartolomeo di Giovanni.'' Firenze: Editrice Edam, 1973.

External links

Bartolomeo di Giovanni in ArtCyclopedia''Italian Paintings: Florentine School''
a collection catalog containing information about di Giovanni and his works (see pages: 140-141). {{DEFAULTSORT:Bartolomeo di Giovanni Year of birth unknown 1501 deaths 15th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Italian Renaissance painters