Lorenzo Monaco (1370 – 1425) was an Italian

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

of the late

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

to early

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 ide ...

age. He was born Piero di Giovanni 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 centur ...

, Italy. Little is known about his youth, apart from the fact that he was apprenticed in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

. He was influenced by

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 ...

and that artist's followers

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.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, train ...

Life

In 1390, Piero di Giovanni joined the

Camaldolese The Camaldolese Hermits of Mount Corona ( la, Congregatio Eremitarum Camaldulensium Montis Coronae), commonly called Camaldolese is a monastic order of Pontifical Right for men founded by Saint Romuald. Their name is derived from the Holy Hermita ...

monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli. He was thenceforth generally known as ''Lorenzo Monaco'' ('Lawrence the Monk'). Starting from around 1404, his works show the influence of the International Gothic, of

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 ...

's earliest works and of

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 pa ...

. From this period is the ''Pietà'' in the

Galleria dell'Accademia The Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze, or "Gallery of the Academy of Florence", is an art museum in Florence, Italy. It is best known as the home of Michelangelo's sculpture ''David''. It also has other sculptures by Michelangelo and a large ...

in Florence. His works, often over a gilded background, showed in general a spiritual value, and usually did not feature profane elements. In 1414, he painted the ''Coronation of the Virgin'' (now at the Uffizi), characterized by a great number of saints and brilliant colours. In the late part of his life, Lorenzo did not accept the early Renaissance innovations introduced by artists such as

Masaccio Masaccio (, , ; December 21, 1401 – summer 1428), born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, was a Florentine artist who is regarded as the first great Italian painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance. According to Vasar ...

and

Brunelleschi Filippo Brunelleschi ( , , also known as Pippo; 1377 – 15 April 1446), considered to be a founding father of Renaissance architecture, was an Italian architect, designer, and sculptor, and is now recognized to be the first modern engineer, ...

. This is visible in the ''

Adoration of the Magi The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having found Jesus by following a star, ...

'' of 1420–1422, where the now widespread geometrical perspective is totally absent. Lorenzo's works remained popular in the 1420s, as testified by the numerous commissions he received, such as the ''Stories of the Virgin'' in the

Bartolini Salimbeni Chapel The Bartolini Salimbeni Chapel (Italian: ''Cappella Bartolini Salimbeni'') is a chapel in the church of Santa Trinita, Florence, central Italy. Its decoration by Lorenzo Monaco, dating to the 1420s, are one of the few surviving examples of Inter ...

of Santa Trinita, one of his few frescoes. Giorgio Vasari includes a biography of Lorenzo Monaco in his '' Lives''. According to Vasari, he died from an unidentified infection, perhaps

gangrene Gangrene is a type of tissue death caused by a lack of blood supply. Symptoms may include a change in skin color to red or black, numbness, swelling, pain, skin breakdown, and coolness. The feet and hands are most commonly affected. If the gan ...

or a

tumour A neoplasm () is a type of abnormal and excessive growth of tissue. The process that occurs to form or produce a neoplasm is called neoplasia. The growth of a neoplasm is uncoordinated with that of the normal surrounding tissue, and persists ...

Selected works

His works include: *''Coronation of the Virgin'' (1388–1390),

Courtauld Gallery The Courtauld Gallery () is an art museum in Somerset House, on the Strand in central London. It houses the collection of the Courtauld Institute of Art, a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

*''Madonna and Child with Saints'' (1395–1402) *''Episodes in the Life of Saint Benedict'' (c. 1407–1409) *''Nativity'' (1409), a panel believed to form part of a predella *'' Coronation of the Virgin'' (1414), also for Santa Maria degli Angeli *''

Annunciation Triptych The ''Annunciation Triptych'' is a tempera on panel painting by the Italian late Gothic artist Lorenzo Monaco, now housed in the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Florence, Italy. History The triptych was commissioned for the church of San Procolo of ...

'' (1410–1415),

*''

'' (1410–1415), Santa Trinita, Florence *''

'' (1422), Uffizi, Florence *''Beheading of St Paul'',

Princeton University Art Museum The Princeton University Art Museum (PUAM) is the Princeton University gallery of art, located in Princeton, New Jersey. With a collecting history that began in 1755, the museum was formally established in 1882, and now houses over 113,000 works ...

*''Processional Cross'', Chicago Art Institute *''Crucifixion of St Peter'', Walters Art Museum, Baltimore *''Madonna and Child'', National Gallery, Washington, D.C. *'' Madonna of Humility'', Treasure Museum of the Basilica of Saint Francis, Assisi *''Virgin and Child'', Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh

Paintings

File:Lorenzo Monaco, Coronation of the Virgin, Christ Redeemer, 1388-90, Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery.jpg, ''Coronation of the Virgin'', 1388–1390, Courtauld Gallery, London File:Frama_AssSC046.JPG, ''Madonna of Humility'', 1370–1425, Treasure Museum of the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi File:Lorenzo Monaco - mnac.jpg, ''Virgin and Child with Six Angels'', 1415–1420 File:Lorenzo Monaco Madonna.jpg, ''Madonna'', 1381–1425,

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the ...

, Amsterdam File:Lorenzo monaco, polittico della madonna in trono.jpg, ''Polyptych of the Madonna Enthroned with Saints'', 1410, Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence File:Don Lorenzo Monaco 010.jpg, ''Scene from the Life of St. Benedict'', 1413–1414 File:Lorenzo Monaco - The Nativity (ca. 1406-1410).jpg, ''Nativity'', c. 1406–1410 File:Lorenzo Monaco - Nativity - WGA13600.jpg, ''Nativity'', 1414 File:Lorenzo monaco, natività.jpg, ''Nativity'', before 1424 File:Lorenzo Monaco - Crucifixion - WGA13584.jpg, ''Crucifixion'', 1405–1410

References

External links

National Gallery of Art

''Italian Paintings: Florentine School''
a

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 ...

collection catalog containing information about Lorenzo Monaco and his works (see pages 62–68). {{DEFAULTSORT:Monaco, Lorenzo 1370s births 1420s deaths People from Siena 14th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 15th-century Italian painters Painters from Tuscany Gothic painters Catholic painters

Life

Selected works

Paintings

See also

References

Further reading

External links