Niccolò di Pietro Gerini ( 1340 – 1414) was an Italian painter of the late Gothic period, active mainly in his native

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

although he also carried out commissions in Pisa and Prato. He was not an innovative painter but relied on traditional compositions in which he placed his figures in a stiff and dramatic movement.

Early life and family

Gerini's father, Pietro Geri, was registered as a member of the

Guild of Saint Luke The Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was iden ...

in 1339. In 1368, ''Niccolò Dipintore'' is identified as a member of the ''Arte dei Medici e Speziali'' Guild (Guild of Doctors and Apothecaries, which included painters until 1378) in Florence. Niccolo worked mainly in Florence, although he also carried out commissions in Rome at the Vatican, and in Pisa and Prato. Another important artist, Lorenzo di Niccolò di Martino, trained in Niccolò di Pietro Gerini's workshop and later collaborated with him, but was not his son as is sometimes erroneously stated. Gerini did have a son named Bindo di Niccolo di Pietro Gerini, born in 1363, who was registered as a member of the Guild of Saint Luke in 1408.

Career

Gerini represents the school of

Giotto di Bondone Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the Gothic and Proto-Renaissance period. Giotto's contemporary, the ba ...

, in the tradition of Andrea di Orcagna and of Taddeo Gaddi. As is typical for Gothic depictions, Gerini's figures have large chins, sloping foreheads, and sharp noses whilst their bodies are squat and frontally displaced. Gerini is recorded as collaborating with Jacopo di Cione on frescoes for the Guild hall of the Judges and Notaries in Florence in 1366. He is the ''Niccolaio Dipintore'' who worked with Jacopo di Cione on the altarpiece of the ''Coronation of the Virgin'' commissioned by the

Albizzi The Albizzi family () was a patrician noble family and were the de facto leaders of an oligarchy of wealthy families that ruled Florence in the second half of the 14th century. They were at the center of the oligarchy from 1382, in the reaction th ...

family for San Pier Maggiore, Florence in 1370. He was paid 12 golden florins ''per disegnare la tavola dell’altare'' (for the design of the altarpiece) in November of the same year. In addition to the altarpiece, he designed the elaborate throne canopy, while Jacopo di Cione actually produced the piece. He collaborated with Jacopo di Cione on a second ''Coronation of the Virgin'' ( Accademia, Florence) in 1372. It was commissioned by the mint of Florence Zecca Vecchia that same year. In 1383 Gerini again worked with Cione on a fresco of the Annunciation in the Palazzo dei Priori,

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 ...

. This fresco clearly shows the work of two very different artists: Niccolò di Pietro Gerini (design and very fine painting) and Jacopo di Cione (broadly painted saints and side decoration). In 1386 Niccolò frescoed the façade of the Loggia del Bigallo, Florence. He also frescoed the

Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio The Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio, officially known as ''Basilica romana minore collegiata abbaziale prepositurale di Sant'Ambrogio'', is an ancient Romanesque-style, Roman Catholic church located in the center of Milan, in the region of Lombardy, ...

in Milano and executed a ''Crucifixion'' in the church of Santa Felicita, both in Florence. His hand can be also seen in the sacristy of the basilica of Santa Croce in the same city, depicting scenes from the life of Christ. Between 1391 and 1392 he worked in Prato where he frescoed Palazzo Datini and the Church of San Francesco with Lorenzo di Niccolò and Agnolo Gaddi. He also frescoed the capitals of the church of San Francesco, Pisa. Cappella migliorati 01

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerini, Niccolo Di Pietro Gothic painters Trecento painters 1340s births 1414 deaths Painters from Florence 14th-century people from the Republic of Florence 14th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 15th-century Italian painters