Mariotto di Nardo di Cione (''fl''. 1388–1424) was a Florentine painter in the Florentine Gothic style. He worked at the Duomo of Florence, the church of

Santa Maria Maggiore The Basilica of Saint Mary Major ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, ; la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae Maioris), or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is a Major papal basilica as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and the larges ...

, and the Orsanmichele. He created both frescoes and panel paintings, and was also active as a manuscript

illuminator Illuminator may refer to: * A light source * Limner, an illustrator of manuscripts * Illuminator radar * The Illuminator, a political art collective based in New York City * Illuminator (Marvel Comics), a Christian superhero appearing in America ...

Personal life

Mariotto flourished from 1394 to 1424. He was the grandson of

Andrea di Cione di Arcangelo Andrea di Cione di Arcangelo (c. 1308 – 25 August 1368), better known as Orcagna, was an Italian painter, sculptor, and architect active in Florence. He worked as a consultant at the Florence Cathedral and supervised the construction of the fa ...

and the son of, and apprentice to,

Nardo di Cione Nardo di Cione (died c. 1366) was an Italian Painting, painter, sculptor and architect from Florence. He was the brother of the more accomplished Andrea di Cione, called Orcagna, as well as Jacopo di Cione; they were important members of the Pai ...

. Nardo had worked in

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

in 1380 and

Volterra Volterra (; Latin: ''Volaterrae'') is a walled mountaintop town in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its history dates from before the 8th century BC and it has substantial structures from the Etruscan, Roman, and Medieval periods. History Volter ...

in 1381 as a stonecutter. With the lack of personal information on Mariotto, there is essentially no information on Mariotto's direct family, or if he had one at all.

Influences

Mariotto's style belongs to the Florentine Gothic and shows the influence of

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.Niccolo di Pietro Gerini. his later style was influenced slightly by

Lorenzo Monaco Lorenzo Monaco (1370 – 1425) was an Italian painter of the late Gothic to early Renaissance age. He was born Piero di Giovanni in Siena, Italy. Little is known about his youth, apart from the fact that he was apprenticed in Florence. He was inf ...

Career

Mariotto was a member of the Physicians and Apothecaries Guild sometime between 1386 and 1408, and was also a member of the Company of Saint Luke in 1408. Many extant documents show that he was a popular and much sought after painter in both public and private affairs in Florence. Mariotto is thought to have been principally responsible for the artwork in the cathedral, although most of these paintings have since been tarnished. Mariotto was an avid altarpiece painter, and in 1398 he painted an altarpiece for the chapel of the

Madonna della Neve The Dedication of the Basilica of St Mary Major (''In Dedicatione basilicae S. Mariae'') is a feast day in the General Roman Calendar of the Catholic Church, optionally celebrated annually on 5 August with the rank of memorial. In earlier editio ...

in Florence, commissioned by the Board of Works. He began working on this piece in 1397 and was compensated with 15 florins in partial payment for the creation of the panel for the "opera" of

Saint Reparata Reparata ( it, Santa Reparata, french: Sainte Réparate) was a Catholic virgin and martyr of the 3rd century AD, of Caesarea, Roman Province of Palestine. Sources record her age as being from 11 to 20 years old, though Sainte-Réparate Cathedr ...

for the altar of the new chapel of the Virgin Mary. He also painted an altar piece for the

Florence Cathedral Florence Cathedral, formally the (; in English Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower), is the cathedral of Florence, Italy ( it, Duomo di Firenze). It was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and was structurally c ...

around 1402–4. Mariotto's uncle, Jacopo di Cione, acted as a guarantor on behalf of Mariotto for the cathedral workshop on 2 May 1398. In 1400 he worked with

Lorenzo Ghiberti Lorenzo Ghiberti (, , ; 1378 – 1 December 1455), born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence, a key figure in the Early Renaissance, best known as the creator of two sets of bronze doors of the Florence Baptistery ...

Pesaro Pesaro () is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Marche, capital of the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the Marche, ...

. His triptych of the ''Virgin and Child with Saint Michael and Francis'' is in the Civic Museum there. Mariotto was commissioned to create frescos for two of the most important Catholic churches in Florence: the

and the Orsanmichele (around 1400). Mariotto also executed frescoes for the officials of the Orsanmichele to be placed in their residence. At this stage of his career, he was also commissioned to create illuminated manuscripts for Santa Maria degli Angeli, Florence. This gave him access to the manuscript workshop that would later influence his style; examples of this include two fragments of St Lawrence (Cambridge, Fitzwilliam) and

St Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurre ...

. The last known commission given to Mariotto was a painting for the altar of the Captains of the Company of Sta. Oratory, on 2 March 1415/16. As Mariotto's career progressed, his paintings became more and more repetitive, showing a personal trademark of distinguishable traits. Although his works were often considered to have been slightly above artisan quality, his success in his time period has baffled later critics. His production introduced to Florence new Gothic techniques such as oblique perspective, nervous tension of the figures and deserted, rocky landscapes.

Stylistic elements

Mariotto_di_nardo,_polittico_serristori,_1424,_01

Through Mariotto's flourishing years, stylistic change is noticed in his works. From his early works, such as the large polyptych in the church of S. Donnino at Villamagna in 1394–1395 (his first known artistic commitment), to his large polyptych in the Serristori house in Florence (shown to the right) his stylistic elements noticeably shifted. Mariotto had originally preferred to arrange bold, powerful figures, who move their heavy burdens with grace. In the first decade of the 14th century, he advanced his style by lightening the weight of his figures and using more subtle and less dramatic line weight to give a more elegant and delicate persona to his figures. These new elements were heavily influenced by, and seen as parallel to,

Surviving works

Mariotto_di_nardo,_dottore_della_chiesa_1404_01

A relatively large number of securely attributed works by Mariotto survive. These include an altarpiece of the ''Virgin and Child with Saints'' for the church of S Donnino at Villamagna, Bagno a Ripoli (''in situ''); a triptych of the ''Assumption of the Virgin'' with ''St Jerome'' and ''St John the Evangelist'' (1398; Fiesole, Fontelucente Church); a polyptych of the ''Virgin and Child with Saints'' and a predella with scenes from the ''Life of the Virgin'' (Florence, Accad.) from the convent of S Gaggio, Florence; the ''Coronation of the Virgin'' (Florence, Certosa del Galluzzo, Pin.); the ''Trinity'' (Impruneta, S Maria); and an altarpiece of the ''Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints'' for S Leolino at Panzano in Chianti (''in situ'').

List of works

* Frescoes in the pharmacy of

Santa Maria Novella Santa Maria Novella is a church in Florence, Italy, situated opposite, and lending its name to, the city's main railway station. Chronologically, it is the first great basilica in Florence, and is the city's principal Dominican church. The chu ...

in Florence * Triptych (1394–1395) in the church of San Donnino at

Villamagna Villamagna is a ''comune'' and town in the province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region of south-eastern Italy. History Originally a Roman settlement, the town's name derives from the Latin words ''villa'' ("farm") and ''magna'' ("large" or "import ...

* Altarpiece for Cappella Serristori in Chiesa di San Francesco in Figline Valdarno, collection of Fondazione Cariprato * ''Il Giardino d'Amore'', now in

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* ''Virgin in Glory with the Apostles'' * ''Madonna with Child and Two Benefactors'' (1404) and ''Ascension of Christ'' (1405–1410), Treasure Museum of the Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi ( F. M. Perkins collection) * ''Virgin with Child, Four Saints and Three Angel Musicians'' * ''Pentecost'' * ''Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist'' (1408),

Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. The Getty Center is located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles and fe ...

* ''Saint Lawrence and Saint Stephen'' (1408),

* ''Saint Francis Receives the Stigmata'',

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 ...

, New York * ''Doctors of the Church'' (1404), Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence * ''The Legend of Saint Stephen'' (1408), National Museum of Western Art,

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* ''Annunciation'' (1400–1410), Hermitage,

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

* ''Madonna and Christ Child with Angels and Saints Mary Magdalene, Francis, Dorothy, and Anthony Abbot'' (1394–1424), Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, Alabama * ''Saint Bartholemew and Saint Anthony'' (1408),

Minneapolis Institute of Arts The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the largest art museums in the United State ...

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* ''Scenes from the Life of Jesus Christ'': :*'' Noli me tangere'' :*''Ascensione'' :*'' Risurrezione'' :*''Crocifissione'' Mariotto_di_nardo,_natività,_1385_ca

:*''Natività'', ca. 1385, now in the

Vatican Museums The Vatican Museums ( it, Musei Vaticani; la, Musea Vaticana) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of ...

:*''Natività'',

:*''

Pietà The Pietà (; meaning "pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus after his body was removed from the cross. It is most often found in sculpture. The Pietà is a specific form o ...

'' :*''Flagellazione'' :*''Deposizione'' :*''

Ultima cena ''The Last Supper'' ( it, Il Cenacolo or ) is a mural painting by the Italian High Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci, dated to . The painting represents the scene of the Last Supper of Jesus with the Twelve Apostles, as it is told in th ...

'' * ''The Passion'', a series of small panels, in museums in

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

and

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

; the Fondazione Roberto Longhi in Florence and various private collections.

References

External links

Mariotto di Nardo in the archive of the Fondazione Federico Zeri

* ttp://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/nardo_mariotto_di.html Mariotto di Nardo on sito Artcyclopedia.com
Mariotto di Nardo on encyclopedie.bseditions.fr
(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Nardo, Mariotto Year of birth uncertain 1424 deaths 14th-century Italian painters 15th-century Italian painters Painters from Florence Italian male painters Quattrocento painters