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An anonymous author known as the Anonimo Gaddiano, Anonimo Magliabechiano, or Anonimo Fiorentino ("the anonymous Florentine") is the author of the Codice Magliabechiano or Magliabechiano, a

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

with 128 pages of text, probably from the 1530s and 1540s, and now in the Central National Library of Florence (Magliab. XVII, 17). It includes brief biographies and notes on the works of Italian artists, mainly those 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 ...

during 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 ...

. Among several other suggestions, the anonymous author has been suggested to be Bernardo Vecchietti (1514–1590), a politician of the court of

Cosimo I Cosimo I de' Medici (12 June 1519 – 21 April 1574) was the second Duke of Florence from 1537 until 1569, when he became the first Grand Duke of Tuscany, a title he held until his death. Life Rise to power Cosimo was born in Florence on 12 ...

. The author clearly had intimate access to the Medici court. The manuscript dates from about 1536 to the mid 1540s and is considered a useful source for the study of the history of Italian art since it is the most comprehensive biographical source for artists before the 1550 edition of Vasari's ''Lives'', which was being compiled over the same period. While the opening section is devoted to artists from ancient Greece, essentially reprising

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic ' ...

, the most significant part is dedicated to Florentine artists from Cimabue to Michelangelo. The entries for artists concentrate on lists of works, and lack the full biographical ambition of Vasari.

The manuscript, which now appears to be incomplete, is considered a particularly useful source for the study of the history of Italian art since it is the most comprehensive biographical source before the 1550 edition of Vasari's ''Lives'', which was being compiled over the same period. The account of the life of

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

is especially detailed, and much used by later authors. One particular point, a later addition to the manuscript, has been much discussed. This states that Leonardo painted a portrait from life of "Piero Francesco del Giocondo" (or possibly just "Francesco del Giocondo"), respectively the son and the husband of

Lisa del Giocondo Lisa del Giocondo (; ; June 15, 1479 – July 15, 1542) was an Italian noblewoman and member of the Gherardini family of Florence and Tuscany. Her name was given to the ''Mona Lisa'', her portrait commissioned by her husband and painted by Le ...

, usually considered the sitter for the ''

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' ( ; it, Gioconda or ; french: Joconde ) is a Half length portrait, half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described ...

''.

Frank Zöllner Frank Zöllner (born 26 June 1956) is a German art historian who has been a professor of art history at Leipzig University since 1996. He is a prolific scholar on the life and works of Leonardo da Vinci, and author of one of the two modern ''ca ...

argues that the author of the note simply made a mistake, and was referring to the ''Mona Lisa''. In general, much of the information is the same as in Vasari's ''Lives'', though there are also distinct differences. It is clear the two authors knew each other, but not clear that either had read the other's work. Annotations in the MS include notes to ask Vasari for further details, and it is possible that a satirical portrait at the end of the MS records the author's bitterness when he realized that Vasari's publication would eclipse his own efforts, or had already done so. Like Vasari, the author had access to a version of the material known from the somewhat earlier manuscript of Antonio Billi, from about 1515, which may have been circulated among Florentine art lovers in various redactions.

Provenance

Bernardo Vecchietti, one possible author, was the son of a rich cloth merchant and would only have been in his early twenties when he compiled the manuscript in the early 1540s. He was later a patron of the sculptor Giambologna, and helped Duke Cosimo organize his artistic projects, in 1572 provoking bitter complaints by Vasari, surviving in a letter to

Vincenzo Borghini Vincenzo Borghini (29 October 1515 – 15 August 1580) was an Italian monk, artist, philologist, and art collector of Florence, Italy. Borghini was a learned Benedictine cleric. He was the luogotenente of the Accademia del Disegno (from 1563) ...

(another figure suggested as the ''Anonimo Gaddiano''). The manuscript later belonged to the Gaddi family (hence the "Gaddiano" name), descended from the 13th-century artist Gaddo Gaddi, and by the 16th century prominent in banking and the church. Contemporary members included Cardinals Niccolò Gaddi and

Taddeo Gaddi Taddeo Gaddi (c. 1290, in Florence – 1366, in Florence) was a medieval Italy, Italian Painting, painter and architect. He was the son of Gaddo di Zanobi, called Gaddo Gaddi. He was a member of Giotto's workshop from 1313 until the master's d ...

, and the priest Giovanni Gaddi, the last a courtier in Florence at the time, and friend of Vasari and Benvenuto Cellini. It entered the collection of

Antonio Magliabechi Antonio di Marco Magliabechi (or Magliabecchi; 29 October 1633 - 4 July 1714) was an Italian librarian, scholar and bibliophile. Biography He was born at Florence, the son of a burgher named Marco Magliabechi, and Ginevra Baldorietta. Although ...

, which became the core of the Florentine public library. The manuscript was forgotten about until published in 1892 by Karl Frey; altogether the manuscript has been published three times in Italian.DAH; Wierda, 157; the earliest edition is
Il Codice Magliabechiano
by Anonimo Fiorentino, igitized_from_a_collection_at_Harvard_University.html" ;"title="Harvard_University.html" ;"title="igitized from a collection at Harvard University">igitized from a collection at Harvard University">Harvard_University.html" ;"title="igitized from a collection at Harvard University">igitized from a collection at Harvard University Frey, Karl, 1857–1917. Publication date 1892. archive.org.

Artists mentioned or profiled

These are the artists covered, in the order of their listing, which is broadly chronological. Th
transcript edited by Frey
is fully available online. * Cimabue * Gaddo Gaddi * Andrea Tafi (artist), Andrea Tafi * Giotto * Stefano Fiorentino * Taddeo Gaddi * Maso Fiorentino ( Maso di Banco) * Bernardo Daddi *

Pietro Cavallini Pietro Cavallini (1259 – c. 1330) was an Italian painter and mosaic designer working during the late Middle Ages. Biography Little is known about his biography, though it is known he was from Rome, since he signed ''pictor romanus''. His fir ...

Jacopo del Casentino Jacopo del Casentino (c. 1297 – 1358) was an Italian painter, active mainly in Tuscany in the first half of the 14th century. Life Very little is known about this artist other than that he likely came from Casentino. Giorgio Vasari inco ...

Buonamico Buffalmacco Buonamico di Martino, otherwise known as Buonamico Buffalmacco (active c. 1315–1336), was an Italian Renaissance painter who worked in Florence, Bologna, and Pisa. Although none of his known work has survived, he is widely assumed to be the ...

* Giottino * Andrea Orcagna *

Agnolo Gaddi Agnolo Gaddi (c.1350–1396) was an Italian painter. He was born and died in Florence, and was the son of the painter Taddeo Gaddi,who was himself the major pupil of the Florentine master Giotto. Agnolo was a painter and mosaicist, trained ...

* Antonio Veneziano * Giovanni da Santo Stefano ( Giovanni dal Ponte) *

Gherardo Starnina Gherardo Starnina (c. 1360–1413) was an Italian painter from Florence in the Quattrocento era. According to the biographer Giorgio Vasari, Starnina initially trained with Antonio Veneziano, then with Agnolo Gaddi. He is claimed to have part ...

* Filippo Brunelleschi *

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 Baptister ...

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Florence, he studied classical sculpture and used this to develop a complete Renaissance s ...

Luca della Robbia Luca della Robbia (, also , ; 1399/1400–1482) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence. Della Robbia is noted for his colorful, tin-glazed terracotta statuary, a technique which he invented and passed on to his nephew Andrea della ...

Antonio del Pollaiuolo Antonio del Pollaiuolo ( , , ; 17 January 1429/14334 February 1498), also known as Antonio di Jacopo Pollaiuolo or Antonio Pollaiuolo (also spelled Pollaiolo), was an Italian painter, sculptor, engraver, and goldsmith during the Italian Rena ...

* Masaccio *

Masolino , death_date = ''c.'' 1447 , death_place = Florence , nationality = Italian , field = Painting, fresco , training = , movement = Italian Renaissance , works = frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel , patrons ...

* Lippo (

Lippo Memmi Lippo Memmi (c. 1291 – 1356) was an Italian painter from Siena. He was the foremost follower of Simone Martini, who was his brother-in-law. Together with Martini, in 1333 he painted what is regarded as one of the masterworks of the Intern ...

?) *

Ambrogio Lorenzetti Ambrogio Lorenzetti (; – 9 June 1348) or Ambruogio Laurati was an Italian painter of the Sienese school. He was active from approximately 1317 to 1348. He painted '' The Allegory of Good and Bad Government'' in the Sala dei Nove (Salon of Nin ...

Simone Martini Simone Martini ( – 1344) was an Italian painter born in Siena. He was a major figure in the development of early Italian painting and greatly influenced the development of the International Gothic style. It is thought that Martini was a pupil ...

Taddeo di Bartolo Taddeo di Bartolo (c. 1363 – 26 August 1422), also known as Taddeo Bartoli, was an Italian painter of the Sienese School during the early Renaissance. He is among the artists profiled in Vasari's biographies of artists or ''Vite''. Vas ...

* Giovanni d'Asciano (Giovanni di Guido da Asciano) *

Vecchietta Lorenzo di Pietro (1410 – June 6, 1480), known as Vecchietta, was an Italian Sienese School painter, sculptor, goldsmith, and architect of the Renaissance. He is among the artists profiled in Vasari's ''Le Vite delle più eccellenti pittori, ...

* Sano pittore (

Sano di Pietro Sano di Pietro or Ansano di Pietro di Mencio (1405–1481) was an Italian painter of the Sienese school of painting. He was active for about half a century during the Quattrocento period, and his contemporaries included Giovanni di Paolo and S ...

) *

Francesco di Giorgio Martini Francesco di Giorgio Martini (1439–1501) was an Italian architect, engineer, painter, sculptor, and writer. As a painter, he belonged to the Sienese School. He was considered a visionary architectural theorist—in Nikolaus Pevsner's terms ...

* Matteo pittore (

Matteo di Giovanni Matteo di Giovanni (c. 1430 – 1495) was an Italian Renaissance artist from the Sienese School. Biography Matteo di Giovanni di Bartolo was born in Borgo Sansepolcro around 1430. His family relocated to Siena and he is firmly associated with ...

) * Benvenuto pittore (

Benvenuto di Giovanni Benvenuto di Giovanni, also known as Benvenuto di Giovanni di Meo del Guasta (13 September 1436 – c. 1518) was an Italian painter and artist known for his choral miniatures, pavement designs, and frescoes. Working chiefly in Siena, he was first ...

) * Neroccio pittore ( Neroccio di Bartolomeo de' Landi) *

Duccio di Buoninsegna Duccio di Buoninsegna ( , ; – ) was an Italian painter active in Siena, Tuscany, in the late 13th and early 14th century. He was hired throughout his life to complete many important works in government and religious buildings around Italy. Ducc ...

Giovanni Pisano Giovanni Pisano (c. 1250 – c. 1315) was an Italian sculptor, painter and architect, who worked in the cities of Pisa, Siena and Pistoia. He is best known for his sculpture which shows the influence of both the French Gothic and the Ancient ...

Andrea Pisano Andrea Pisano (Pontedera 12901348 Orvieto) also known as Andrea da Pontedera, was an Italian sculptor and architect. Biography Pisano first learned the trade of a goldsmith. Pisano then became a pupil of Mino di Giovanni, about 1300, and wor ...

* Michelozzo *

Desiderio da Settignano Desiderio da Settignano, real name Desiderio de Bartolomeo di Francesco detto Ferro ( 1428 or 1430 – 1464) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor active in north Italy. Biography He came from a family of stone carvers and stonemasons in Settigna ...

Andrea del Verrocchio Andrea del Verrocchio (, , ; – 1488), born Andrea di Michele di Francesco de' Cioni, was a sculptor, Italian painter and goldsmith who was a master of an important workshop in Florence. He apparently became known as ''Verrocchio'' after the ...

* Giovanni Francesco Toscani *

Lorenzo di Bicci Lorenzo di Bicci ( 1350 – 1427) was an Italian painter of the Florentine School considered to be one of the most important painters in Florence during the second half of the 14th century. He is believed to have learned his trade from his fathe ...

Bicci di Lorenzo Bicci di Lorenzo (1373–1452) was an Italian painter and sculptor, active in Florence. He was born in Florence in 1373, the son of the painter, Lorenzo di Bicci, whose workshop he joined. He married in 1418, and in 1424 was registered in the G ...

Neri di Bicci Neri di Bicci (1419–1491) was an Italian painter active in his native Florence. A prolific painter of mainly religious themes, he studied under his father, Bicci di Lorenzo, who had in turn studied under his father, Lorenzo di Bicci. The thr ...

Nanni di Banco Nanni d'Antonio di Banco ( 1384 – 1421) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence. Early life He was born to artist Antonio di Banco, who worked on the Cathedral of Florence in Florence, Italy. Historians have tried to deter ...

Antonio Rossellino Antonio Gamberelli (1427–1479), Janson, H.W. (1995) ''History of Art''. 5th edn. Revised and expanded by Anthony F. Janson. London: Thames & Hudson, p. 465. nicknamed Antonio Rossellino for the colour of his hair, was an Italian Renaissance ...

and

Bernardo Rossellino Bernardo di Matteo del Borra Gamberelli (1409 Settignano – 1464 Florence), better known as Bernardo Rossellino, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and architect, the elder brother of the sculptor Antonio Rossellino. As a member of the secon ...

* Giovanni dal Ponte * Fra Giovanni da Fiesole (

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 ...

) * Lorenzo Monaco * Dello Delli *

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.Filippo Lippi *

Andrea del Castagno Andrea del Castagno () or Andrea di Bartolo di Bargilla (; – 19 August 1457) was an Italian painter from Florence, influenced chiefly by Masaccio and Giotto di Bondone. His works include frescoes in Sant'Apollonia in Florence and the pain ...

Paolo Uccello Paolo Uccello ( , ; 1397 – 10 December 1475), born Paolo di Dono, was an Italian (Florentine) painter and mathematician who was notable for his pioneering work on visual perspective in art. In his book ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, S ...

* Giuliano Pesello * Francesco Pesellino *

Alesso Baldovinetti Alesso or Alessio Baldovinetti (14 October 1427 – 29 August 1499) was an Italian early Renaissance painter and draftsman. Biography Baldovinetti was born in Florence to a rich noble family of merchants. In 1448 he was registered as a member of ...

Domenico Veneziano Domenico Veneziano (c. 1410 – May 15, 1461) was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance, active mostly in Perugia and Tuscany. Little is known of his birth, though he is thought to have been born in Venice, hence his last name. He then moved ...

Zanobi Strozzi Zanobi di Benedetto di Caroccio degli Strozzi (17 November 1412 – 6 December 1468), normally referred to more simply as Zanobi Strozzi, was an Italian Renaissance painter and manuscript illuminator active in Florence and nearby Fiesole. He was ...

Zanobi Machiavelli Zanobi Machiavelli (1418–1479) was an Italian painter and illuminator. Machiavelli specialized in religious themed pieces. Some of his works reside at the National Gallery, London, and the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. He died in Pisa Pisa ...

* Baccio da Montelupo *

Benozzo Gozzoli Benozzo Gozzoli (4 October 1497) was an Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. A pupil of Fra Angelico, Gozzoli is best known for a series of murals in the Magi Chapel of the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, depicting festive, vibrant processions ...

Piero del Pollaiuolo Piero del Pollaiuolo ( , , ; also spelled Pollaiolo; in Florence – 1496 in Rome), also known as Piero Benci, was an Italian Renaissance painter from Florence. His brother was the artist Antonio del Pollaiuolo and the two frequently worked ...

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 ...

* Domenico Ghirlandaio *

Fra Bartolomeo Fra Bartolomeo or Bartolommeo (, , ; 28 March 1472 – 31 October 1517), also known as Bartolommeo di Pagholo, Bartolommeo di S. Marco, and his original nickname Baccio della Porta, was an Italian Renaissance painter of religious subjects. ...

Raffaellino del Garbo Raffaellino del Garbo (1466 – 1527) was a Florentine painter of the early Renaissance. Biography His real name was Raffaello di Bartolomeo dei Carli. He was also known as Raffaello Capponi after his adoptive family. The appellation "del Garb ...

* Andrea del Sarto *

* Michelangelo Buonarroti *

Cosimo Rosselli Cosimo Rosselli (; 1439–1507) was an Italian painter of the Quattrocento, active mainly in his birthplace of Florence, but also in Pisa earlier in his career and in 1481–82 in the Sistine Chapel in Rome, where he painted some of the large ...

Pietro Perugino Pietro Perugino (, ; – 1523), born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pupil. Ea ...

Luca Signorelli Luca Signorelli ( – 16 October 1523) was an Italian Renaissance painter from Cortona in Tuscany, who was noted in particular for his ability as a draftsman and his use of foreshortening. His massive frescos of the ''Last Judgment'' (1499–15 ...

Filippino Lippi Filippino Lippi (April 1457 – 18 April 1504) was an Italian painter working in Florence, Italy during the later years of the Early Renaissance and first few years of the High Renaissance. Biography Filippino Lippi was born in Prato, Tusc ...

* Francia Bigio

Notes

References

*DAH
Dictionary of Art Historians
"Magliabechiano, Anonimo (or Anonymo), "anonymous author of the Magliabechiano MS"" * Rubin, Patricia Lee, ''Giorgio Vasari: Art and History'', 174, 1995, Yale University Press, , 780300049091
google books
*, Vol. 53., issue 1 (2009), pp. 157–168
JSTOR

External links

Codice Magliabechiano
wrote by Anonimo Fiorentino, 16th century. In Italian, with an Introduction by Karl Frey (1857–1917) in German. Publication date: 1892. igitized_by_Google_from_a_collection_at_Harvard_University.html" ;"title="Harvard_University.html" ;"title="igitized by Google from a collection at Harvard University">igitized by Google from a collection at Harvard University">Harvard_University.html" ;"title="igitized by Google from a collection at Harvard University">igitized by Google from a collection at Harvard Universityarchive.org.
Codice dell'anonimo Gaddiano
(cod. Magliabechiano XVII, 17), Biblioteca Nazionale di Firenze. In Italian, with an introduction by Cornelio Fabrizi. [digitized from a collection at Princeton University] Firenze, typography M. Cellini & Co., 1893. hathitrust.org. {{authority control Italian manuscripts 16th-century manuscripts Biographies about artists Italian art historians Italian biographers Compilations of biographies about artists

Contents

Provenance

Artists mentioned or profiled

Notes

References

External links