Piermatteo d'Amelia - Madonna and Child - Gemäldegalerie Berlin

Piermatteo de' Manfredi da Amelia (circa 1445 - died 1503/1508) was an Italian painter of the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

period.

Biography

Piermatteo was born in Amelia, in

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

. He is first recorded as being part of the circle of

Filippo Lippi Filippo Lippi ( – 8 October 1469), also known as Lippo Lippi, was an Italian painter of the Quattrocento (15th century) and a Carmelite Priest. Biography Lippi was born in Florence in 1406 to Tommaso, a butcher, and his wife. He was orp ...

, active between 1467 and 1469, working on the decoration of the

Spoleto Cathedral Spoleto Cathedral ( it, Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta; ''Duomo di Spoleto'') is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Spoleto-Norcia created in 1821, previously that of the diocese of Spoleto, and the principal church of the Umbrian city of Spo ...

. From 1479 until 1480 he was in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where he was one of the painters working in the

Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel (; la, Sacellum Sixtinum; it, Cappella Sistina ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the pope in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), the chapel takes its name ...

; he contributed to the decoration of the stars on the ceiling. From 1480 until 1482 he was active in

Orvieto Orvieto () is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy, situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff. The city rises dramatically above the almost-vertical faces of tuff cliffs that are compl ...

, painting statues and decorating church fixtures and clocks. It was at this time that he did some work for the church of Sant'Agostino; these pieces have since been removed and are scattered among a number of collections. He returned to Rome, but was recalled in 1482 by the Council of Works for the

Orvieto Cathedral Orvieto Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Orvieto; Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta) is a large 14th-century Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and situated in the town of Orvieto in Umbria, central Italy. Since 1986 ...

, and was commissioned to help decorate the ''San Brizio Chapel''. Ultimately this work was later offered to

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 ...

. A

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

Narni Narni (in Latin, Narnia) is an ancient hilltown and ''comune'' of Umbria, in central Italy, with 19,252 inhabitants (2017). At an altitude of 240 m (787 ft), it overhangs a narrow gorge of the Nera River in the province of Terni. ...

, depicting the ''Madonna and Child with Saints Lucy and Apollonia'', has been dated to 1483. In 1485 Piermatteo was in Rome, working for Popes Innocent VIII and

Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI ( it, Alessandro VI, va, Alexandre VI, es, Alejandro VI; born Rodrigo de Borja; ca-valencia, Roderic Llançol i de Borja ; es, Rodrigo Lanzol y de Borja, lang ; 1431 – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Churc ...

. Stylistically, his later works are similar to those of

Antoniazzo Romano Antoniazzo Romano, born Antonio di Benedetto Aquilo degli Aquili (c. 1430 – c. 1510) was an Italian Early Renaissance painter, the leading figure of the Roman school during the latter part of the 15th century. He "made a speciality of rep ...

. In 1497 he was nominated to the conservatory in

Fano Fano is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the ''Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by popula ...

; by 1503 he had been made superintendent of the Papal factories at

Civita Castellana Civita Castellana is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Viterbo, north of Rome. Mount Soracte lies about to the south-east. History Civita Castellana was settled during the Iron Age by the Italic people of the Falisci, who called it "Fa ...

Piermatteo is also known as the Master of the Gardner Annunciation for a series of works depicting the

Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

which were painted for the

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

of Saints Annunziata and Amelia; in 1880 these came into the possession of

Isabella Stewart Gardner Isabella Stewart Gardner (April 14, 1840 – July 17, 1924) was a leading American art collector, philanthropist, and patron of the arts. She founded the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. Gardner possessed an energetic intellectual cur ...

, from whom the name comes. The anonymous painter was identified when the contract for the work was discovered in

Terni Terni ( , ; lat, Interamna (Nahars)) is a city in the southern portion of the region of Umbria in central Italy. It is near the border with Lazio. The city is the capital of the province of Terni, located in the plain of the Nera river. It is ...

; it indicated that Piermatteo da Amelia was contracted for the paintings on September 23, 1483. A ''Mary Magdalen'' and a ''John the Baptist'' (circa 1480-1481) are displayed in the collections of the

Lindenau museum The Lindenau-Museum is an art museum in Altenburg, Thuringia, Germany. It originated as the house-museum of baron and collector Bernhard August von Lindenau. The building was completed in 1876. The museum's main attraction is its collection of ...

in Altenberg.Lindenau Museum.
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References

Sources

Personaggi Storici from city of Amelia
15th-century births 1445 births 1500s deaths People from the Province of Terni 15th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 16th-century Italian painters Umbrian painters {{Italy-painter-15thC-stub