Berlinghiero Berlinghieri 005
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Berlinghiero also known as Berlinghiero Berlinghieri or Berlinghiero of Lucca (
fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...
1228 – between 1236 and 1242), was an Italian painter in the
Italo-Byzantine Italo-Byzantine is a style term in art history, mostly used for medieval paintings produced in Italy under heavy influence from Byzantine art. It initially covers religious paintings copying or imitating the standard Byzantine icon types, but pa ...
style of the early thirteenth century. He was the father of the painters
Barone Berlinghieri Barone Berlinghieri ( fl. 1228–1282) was an Italian painter. He was the son of Berlingherus from Milan who was still living in 1250. He executed several painted crucifixes; among others one for the Pieve of Casabasciano in 1254; and another in ...
,
Bonaventura Berlinghieri Bonaventura Berlinghieri ( fl. 1228–1274) was an Italian painter from Lucca, Italy, of the Gothic period. He was son of painter Berlinghiero Berlinghieri and brother of Barone and Marco Berlinghieri. Bonaventura painted several panels and wa ...
, and
Marco Berlinghieri Marco Berlinghieri ( fl. 1232–1255) was an Italian medieval miniature painter and book illuminator who executed an illuminated Bible, finished in 1250. He was the son of Berlinghiero Berlinghieri and the brother of Barone and Bonaventura Ber ...
. His actual name is unknown, as he is known from the inscription "Berlingerius me pinxit" on the crucifix which is the basis of attributing other works to the name. The form "Berlinghiero Berlinghieri", once common in art history, is certainly not his name according to Edward B. Garrison and most recent sources and he should be called Berlinghiero. He is also mentioned in a parchment of March 22, 1228 among the names of the residents of
Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one o ...
who swore to keep the peace with
Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...
after a five-year war. The original document has been lost since the mid-19th century and only a somewhat garbled 17th-century transcription exists today, giving rise to the mistaken interpretation of attributing him an incorrect name and an incorrect Lombardic origin.''Toward a New History of Lucchese Painting''
by Edward B. Garrison, ''
The Art Bulletin The College Art Association of America (CAA) is the principal organization in the United States for professionals in the visual arts, from students to art historians to emeritus faculty. Founded in 1911, it "promotes these arts and their understa ...
'', Vol. 33, No. 1 (Mar., 1951), pp. 11-31.
Since his two adult sons were also mentioned in that document, it can be argued that Berlinghiero was then between 35 and 40 years old. This puts his birthday in the year 1175, and his death in the year 1236.


Style and works

His art-style was late Romanesque, mainly line-based, with neohellenistic and Byzantine influences. He is considered to be one of the main artists of the Tuscan art of the period. He is also one of the few artists who painted in what is considered the
Italo-Byzantine Italo-Byzantine is a style term in art history, mostly used for medieval paintings produced in Italy under heavy influence from Byzantine art. It initially covers religious paintings copying or imitating the standard Byzantine icon types, but pa ...
style to whom work can be attributed with certainty, though distinguishing his work from that of his sons is sometimes difficult. His earliest work, or at least that attributed to him, is the "Madonna di sotto gli organi" in the
cathedral of Pisa Pisa Cathedral ( it, Cattedrale Metropolitana Primaziale di Santa Maria Assunta; Duomo di Pisa) is a medieval Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, in the Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa, Italy, the oldest of the t ...
and dates not earlier than 1210. One of his most famous works, ''Madonna and Child,'' is now on display at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
. It exemplifies several key elements that typify it as quintessentially Byzantine, but it also contains later Italian elements. One can begin with the most recognizable attributes, for example, the halos, the flat and uncrowded
gold background Gold ground (both a noun and adjective) or gold-ground (adjective) is a term in art history for a style of images with all or most of the background in a solid gold colour. Historically, real gold leaf has normally been used, giving a luxuriou ...
, and the blue and red robes of the Virgin and her long features. The golden background and halos surrounding the heads of the Virgin and Child are common in Byzantine representation of divine or holy figures, as are the colors used throughout the composition. These golden halos differ between the two figures in the painting—Christ's is articulated by an inlaid cruciform to distinguish his divine status. The Madonna boasts timeless stylized features of the Virgin. Her fingers, nose, and neck are exaggeratedly long and slender and her face itself is elongated and narrow. Her soulful eyes are large and intensely focused, lending her visage a particular elegance. Upon seeing the painting in person, one can observe a red tint in the cheeks of both Jesus and Mary that gives the flesh a lifelike quality - more vivacious, in fact, than its Byzantine predecessors. The particular depth created by the shading of the faces, Mary's in particular - an attribute of early Italian painting - also gives it an air of naturalism that Byzantine figures often lacked.Christiansen, Keith, ''Madonna and Child'', by Berlinghiero
Metropolitan Museum of Art catalogue page
2011
Works by Berlinghieri can be found at the
San Matteo National Museum The National Museum of San Matteo in Pisa (''Museo Nazionale di San Matteo'') displays works from historic ecclesiastical buildings in the city and Province of Pisa. Collections The works span from early Medieval period to the 16th century. The co ...
in
Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...
, the
National Museum of Villa Guinigi The Museo Nazionale di Villa Guinigi is the main art museum hosting the pre-modern art collections owned by the city of Lucca, Italy. The museum is located in a refurbished villa on Via della Quarquonia, completed in 1418 for Paolo Guinigi, rule ...
in Lucca, the
North Carolina Museum of Art The North Carolina Museum of Art (NCMA) is an art museum in Raleigh, North Carolina. It opened in 1956 as the first major museum collection in the country to be formed by state legislation and funding. Since the initial 1947 appropriation that e ...
in
Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...
, the
Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, located in the Wade Park District, in the University Circle neighborhood on the city's east side. Internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian and Egyptian ...
, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berlinghieri, Berlinghiero 13th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Gothic painters Painters from Lucca Year of birth unknown 1230s deaths Romanesque artists