Brooklyn Museum - Saint Lawrence Buried in Saint Stephen's Tomb - Lorenzo di Niccolò

Lorenzo di Niccolò or Lorenzo di Niccolò di Martino was an Italian painter who was active in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

from 1391 to 1412. This early

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

artist worked in the

Trecento The Trecento (, also , ; short for , "1300") refers to the 14th century in Italian cultural history. Period Art Commonly, the Trecento is considered to be the beginning of the Renaissance in art history. Painters of the Trecento included Giotto ...

style, and his work maintains influences of the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style, marking a transitional period between the Gothic sensibilities of the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

while simultaneously beginning to draw on the Classical. Lorenzo's works were usually religious scenes in

tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...

with gold backgrounds.

Education and personal life

The exact year of Lorenzo's birth is unknown, but should be approximately 1374, for the first recorded date of his existence is in 1392 when it is documented that Lorenzo and his mentor,

Niccolò di Pietro Gerini Niccolò di Pietro Gerini ( 1340 – 1414) was an Italian painter of the late Gothic period, active mainly in his native Florence although he also carried out commissions in Pisa and Prato. He was not an innovative painter but relied on tradi ...

, painted frescoes in the church of San Francesco at Pisa.Siren, Osvald. "Lorenzo Di Niccolo." ''The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs'' 36, no. 203 (1920): 77. https://www.jstor.org/stable/860950 Lorenzo is often erroneously cited as the son of

because he completed some works with the painter, and Lorenzo's work is stylistically similar to Gerini's. It is more likely that Lorenzo was simply trained in Gerini's workshop; therefore, many of Lorenzo's early works share similarities with the work of Gerini.John Richards. "Lorenzo di Niccolò." ''Grove Art Online''. ''Oxford Art Online''. Oxford University Press, accessed February 26, 2017, http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T051961 Lorenzo's education was limited, as it is thought that he trained under Gerini in a bottega, and in a way that was not conducive to learning the highest levels of painting. Gerini's work focused more on managing many artists on large projects than on working as a skilled painter.Siren, Osvald. "Lorenzo Di Niccolo." ''The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs'' 36, no. 203 (1920): 72-78. https://www.jstor.org/stable/860950 Lorenzo's friend, painter Spinello Aretino was more influential to Lorenzo's personal artistic development. Lorenzo drew inspiration from Spinello's large-scale frescos and the freedom of imagination in his works. Lorenzo's work was further influenced by Lorenzo Monaco, and to a greater extent by Mariotto di Nardo and Andrea di Giusto. Based on records, Lorenzo was a most likely a member of the Medici e Speziali guild around 1408, and was certainly a member of the Compagnia di San Luca in 1410. Lorenzo had a son, Piero, who was trained in painting at the Arte dei Medici e Speziali in 1422 and became a painter in his own right. At this time, Lorenzo had already died.

Career

Lorenzo Di Niccolò Di Martino - Coronation of the Virgin - WGA13569

Throughout his career, Lorenzo maintained

traditions in his work, a style that he learned from Gerini. Lorenzo's works, such as ''S. Giovanni and his enemy before the crucifix in Saint Miniato,'' serve as defining models of Florentine art's transitional period at the beginning of the 15th century and connect the artist to the Florentine art circle and continued to work in a form of the late Gothic style well into the 15th century. This particular circle of

Proto-Renaissance Italian Renaissance painting is the painting of the period beginning in the late 13th century and flourishing from the early 15th to late 16th centuries, occurring in the Italian Peninsula, which was at that time divided into many political stat ...

style Florentine artists was centered around artist Lorenzo Monaco. Although the

period had technically ended by Lorenzo's time, this circle of artists continued to work in the style, which bridged the gap between the artistic styles of the

and

periods. Many of Lorenzo di Niccolò's works focus on his use of decorative patterns, and do not seem to be concerned with the classicizing naturalistic intentions of the majority of Renaissance artists working in 15th century Florence. However, when compared with his contemporary, Mariotto di Nardo, it is clear that Lorenzo skillfully maintained a Gothic style while allowing his figures some sense of movement that does not exist in works by Mariotto di Nardo. The first surviving work that can be attributed to Lorenzo is a triptych of ''St Bartholomew Enthroned, with Scenes from his Life.'' In 1401 Lorenzo collaborated with his mentor, Gerini, and friend

Spinello Aretino Spinello Aretino (c. 1350 – c. 1410) was an Italian painter from Arezzo, who was active in Tuscany at the end of the 14th and the first decennium of the 15th century. However, in January 1402 Lorenzo was commissioned to paint his own altarpiece of the ''Coronation of the Virgin'', a

polyptych A polyptych ( ; Greek: ''poly-'' "many" and ''ptychē'' "fold") is a painting (usually panel painting) which is divided into sections, or panels. Specifically, a "diptych" is a two-part work of art; a " triptych" is a three-part work; a tetrapt ...

for 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 ...

San Marco San Marco is one of the six sestieri of Venice, lying in the heart of the city as the main place of Venice. San Marco also includes the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. Although the district includes Saint Mark's Square, that was never admin ...

in Florence. In 1440, Cosimo and

Lorenzo de' Medici Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (; 1 January 1449 – 8 April 1492) was an Italian statesman, banker, ''de facto'' ruler of the Florentine Republic and the most powerful and enthusiastic patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Also known as Lorenzo ...

had this altarpiece removed and replaced with a work by

Fra Angelico Fra Angelico (born Guido di Pietro; February 18, 1455) was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance, described by Vasari in his '' Lives of the Artists'' as having "a rare and perfect talent".Giorgio Vasari, ''Lives of the Artists''. Pengu ...

, and Lorenzo's altarpiece was subsequently moved to San Domenico at Cortona. As he matured, Lorenzo's style transformed from one reminiscent of

Giotto 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. G ...

's style to a more elegant and linear style that was more in line with the works of artists such as Lorenzo Monaco. Together with

, Lorenzo painted some frescoes in the Chapterhouse of the convent of San Francesco ( Prato) and the panel ''Coronation of the Virgin'', once in

Santa Felicita Santa Felicita (Church of St Felicity) is a Roman Catholic church in Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy, probably the oldest in the city after San Lorenzo. In the 2nd century, Syrian Greek merchants settled in the area south of the Arno and are th ...

. Lorenzo carried the subject of ''Coronation of the Virgin'' into his work for the Medici Chapel in

Santa Croce, Florence The (Italian for 'Basilica of the Holy Cross') is the principal Franciscan church in Florence, Italy, and a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church. It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 meters south-east of the Duomo. The ...

. This work, completed in 1409, can be found in the chapel's ''predella.'' Today Lorenzo's painting for the Medici Chapel is split between its original location and the

Bagatti Valsecchi Museum The Bagatti Valsecchi Museum is a historic house museum in the Montenapoleone districof downtown Milan, northern Italy. The Bagatti Valsecchi Museum's permanent collections principally contain Italian Renaissance decorative arts (such as maiolic ...

in Milan. Lorenzo's painting of the ''Madonna and Child Enthroned with Sts. Christopher, Blaise, Sebastian, and Francis'' (c. 1410-1412) is now exhibited in the St Louis Museum of Art. Furthermore, two salvers 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 ...

were attributed to the Studio of Lorenzo di Niccolò by art historians Elizabeth Gardner and

Federico Zeri Federico Zeri (12 August 1921 – 5 October 1998) was an Italian art historian specialised in Italian Renaissance painting. He wrote for the Italian newspaper '' La Stampa'', and was a well known television-personality in Italy. Zeri was born i ...

. It has been proposed that the subject of these salvers is a story from Boccaccio's ''Comedia delle Ninfe Fiorentine''. The last dated work that is attributed to Lorenzo is ''Virgin and Child with Saints'', a polyptych in Saint Lorenzo a Collina at Mezzomonte from 1412.

S. Giovanni Gualberto and his Enemy Before the Crucifix in S. Miniato

Saint Giovanni and his enemy before the crucifix in San Miniato by Lorenzo di Niccol

''S. Giovanni Gualberto and his enemy before the Crucifix in S. Miniato'' is emblematic of

proto-renaissance Italian Renaissance painting is the painting of the period beginning in the late 13th century and flourishing from the early 15th to late 16th centuries, occurring in the Italian Peninsula, which was at that time divided into many political stat ...

art through its decorative pattern and denial of modern

Quattrocento The cultural and artistic events of Italy during the period 1400 to 1499 are collectively referred to as the Quattrocento (, , ) from the Italian word for the number 400, in turn from , which is Italian for the year 1400. The Quattrocento encom ...

naturalism. Aspects of the stylization of this painting are characteristic of Lorenzo's other works, seen through angular figures, large hands, and bright colors. In color, the work features bright colors, with blue, red and yellow tones and a light-green background. The work depicts a popular legend of an 11th-century Florentine nobleman, and was a typical subject for late

period and early

artists. Here San Giovanni Gualberto and his enemy are in the church of

San Miniato al Monte San Miniato al Monte (St. Minias on the Mountain) is a basilica in Florence, central Italy, standing atop one of the highest points in the city. It has been described as one of the finest Romanesque structures in Tuscany and one of the most scenic ...

, which is outside of Florence. According to the legend, Giovanni Gualberto set out to kill the knight who had killed his brother, but when Giovanni confronted the knight, it was Good Friday and the knight was unarmed. Giovanni's enemy then knelt before him and begged for mercy in the name of the Crucified. Guivanni Gualberto proceeded to put down his sword and enter the church with the knight. Through his work, Lorenzo places a halo around Giovanni's head to reveal the moment that the crucifix in the church bowed as a symbol of approval of Giovanni's lack of violence, and the enemies continued to become friends. Lorenzo's depiction of this miracle veers from the traditional legend through the existence of the knight's weapons, which he has laid at his side.

Market

Seven auction results for sales of Lorenzo's work between January 1998 and October 2016 are a matter of public record through ArtNet. These works, mostly consisting of tempera on panel, generally have sold far beyond their estimated prices. Lorenzo's works ultimately have sold between $40,250 and $870,596 based on these public records.

Major works

* ''S. Bartholomew Enthroned and four Scenes from his Legend'' (Palazzo Communal, San Gimignano) * ''S. Giovanni Gualberto and his Enemy Before the Crucifix in S. Miniato'' (Worcester, Mass.) * Altarpiece of Saint Felicità, ''Coronation of the Virgin'' * ''Saint Bartholomew Enthroned, with Scenes from his Life,'' 1402 (San Marco, Venice) * ''Virgin and Child with Saints,'' 1412 (Saint Lorenzo a Collina at Mezzomonte) * ''Virgin and Child with Saints,'', triptych (

San Leonardo in Arcetri San Leonardo in Arcetri is a Romanesque-style, Roman Catholic church located on Via di San Leonardo #25, a few hundred meters southeast of the Porta San Giorgio of Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the ca ...

, Florence) * Altarwing, ''S. Niccolò and S. Giovanni Gualberto'' * ''Madonna Seated on Clouds; Four Saints Standing Below'' (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) * ''Madonna Seated on a Cushion'' (Christ Church Library, Oxford) * ''Small Madonna'' (Museo Civico, Pisa) * ''S. John the Baptist, S. James and S. Anthony'', right wing of a triptych (Museo Civico, Pisa) * ''Madonna between S. Nicholas and S. Laurence,'' 1402 (San Martino, Terenzano) * ''Madonna and Child Enthroned with Sts. Christopher, Blaise, Sebastian, and Francis,'' 1410-1412 (St. Louis Museum of Art) * ''The Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence,'' 1412 (Brooklyn Museum, New York)

References

External links

''Italian Paintings: Florentine School''
a collection catalog containing information about di Niccolo and his works (see pages: 52-56). {{DEFAULTSORT:Lorenzo di Niccolo 14th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 15th-century Italian painters Painters from Florence Quattrocento painters Italian Renaissance painters 14th-century births 15th-century deaths Gothic painters Fresco painters