''Cappella del beato Luca Belludi'' Sant'Antonio (Padua) Giusto de' Menabuoi (c. 1320–1391) was an Italian painter of the early Renaissance. He was born 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 ...

. Probably, but not confirmed as, a pupil 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 ...

, de' Menabuoi was notable for his use of bright colour and became a painter at the court of Da Carrara. Pursuing his own archaic style, far removed from Gothic style and realism of his contemporaries

Altichiero Altichiero da Verona (c. 1330 – c. 1390), also called Aldighieri da Zevio, was an Italian painter of the Gothic style. A follower of Giotto, Altichiero is credited with founding the Veronese school. He worked in Verona and Padua—works by ...

and Jacopo d'Avanzi, he was to leave no trace in the development of subsequent

Venetian painting Venetian painting was a major force in Italian Renaissance painting and beyond. Beginning with the work of Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430–1516) and his brother Gentile Bellini (c. 1429–1507) and their workshops, the major artists of the Venetian ...

. In Lombardy he executed a fresco of the ''Last Judgement ''in the Abbey of Viboldone,

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. He then moved to

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

where he completed frescos in the

Church of the Eremitani The Church of the Eremitani (Italian: ''Chiesa degli Eremitani''), or Church of the Hermits, is a former- Augustinian, 13th-century Gothic-style church in Padua, region of the Veneto, Italy. It is also now notable for being adjacent to the Cappell ...

, the

Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua The Pontifical Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua ( it, Basilica Pontificia di Sant'Antonio di Padova) is a Catholic church and minor basilica in Padua, Veneto, Northern Italy, dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua. Although the basilica is visit ...

and most notably at the Baptistery of the Padua Duomo. Between 1375 and 1378 he executed the fresco decoration of the Baptistery of the Padua Duomo, commissioned by Fina Buzzaccarini, wife of

Francesco I da Carrara Francesco I da Carrara (29 September 1325, in Monza – 6 October 1393, in Padua), called il Vecchio, was Lord of Padua from 1350 to 1388. The son of the assassinated Giacomo II da Carrara, he succeeded him as lord of Padua by popular acclamation ...

, who intended to use the building as the family mausoleum. Compared with his earlier work, the frescoes show Romanesque and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

orderliness, such as in the great Paradise of the dome, where the scene is organized around a

Christ Pantocrator In Christian iconography, Christ Pantocrator ( grc-gre, Χριστὸς Παντοκράτωρ) is a specific depiction of Christ. ''Pantocrator'' or ''Pantokrator'', literally ''ruler of all'', but usually translated as "Almighty" or "all-po ...

, surrounded by a hypnotic geometric pattern of angels and saints whose halos, arranged in neat rows, appear from below as some kind of magnificent jewellery. Giusto de' Menabuoi died in Padua and his burial site was re-discovered outside the Baptistry.

References

1330 births 1390 deaths 14th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Florence Trecento painters Gothic painters {{Italy-painter-14thC-stub