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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, a

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

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 ( ; ) 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 ...

during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. Among several other suggestions, the anonymous author has been suggested to be Bernardo Vecchietti (1514–1590), a politician of the court of Cosimo I. 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 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

, 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 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

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 14, 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 painting, portrait commissioned by her husban ...

, usually considered the sitter for the ''

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, ...

''. Frank Zöllner 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 (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, and the priest Giovanni Gaddi, the last a courtier in Florence at the time, and friend of Vasari and

Benvenuto Cellini Benvenuto Cellini (, ; 3 November 150013 February 1571) was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, and author. His best-known extant works include the ''Cellini Salt Cellar'', the sculpture of ''Perseus with the Head of Medusa'', and his autobiography ...

. It entered the collection of Antonio Magliabechi, 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">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 * Jacopo del Casentino * Buonamico Buffalmacco * Giottino * Andrea Orcagna * Agnolo Gaddi * 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 (painter), Antonio Veneziano, then with Agnolo Gaddi. ...

Filippo Brunelleschi Filippo di ser Brunellesco di Lippo Lapi (1377 – 15 April 1446), commonly known as Filippo Brunelleschi ( ; ) and also nicknamed Pippo by Leon Battista Alberti, was an Italian architect, designer, goldsmith and sculptor. He is considered to ...

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), known mononymously as Donatello (; ), was an Italian Renaissance sculpture, Italian sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sc ...

* Luca della Robbia * Antonio del Pollaiuolo *

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 List of Italian painters, Italian painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaiss ...

* Masolino * Lippo ( Lippo Memmi?) *

Ambrogio Lorenzetti Ambrogio Lorenzetti (; – after 9 August 1348) 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 Nine or Council Ro ...

* Simone Martini * Taddeo di Bartolo * Giovanni d'Asciano (Giovanni di Guido da Asciano) * Vecchietta * Sano pittore (

Sano di Pietro Sano may refer to: Geography * Sano, Kentucky, U.S. * Sano, Tochigi, Japan * Monte Sano Mountain, a mountain in Alabama, United States ** Monte Sano State Park * Wai Sano, a volcano in Flores, Indonesia Fiction * Sano (''Rurouni Kenshin''), a ch ...

) *

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) * Neroccio pittore (

Neroccio di Bartolomeo de' Landi Neroccio di Bartolomeo de' Landi (1447–1500) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the early-Renaissance or Quattrocento period in Siena. He was a student of Vecchietta, then he shared a studio with Francesco di Giorgio from 1468. He paint ...

) *

Duccio di Buoninsegna Duccio di Buoninsegna ( , ; – ), commonly known as just Duccio, 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 religi ...

* Giovanni Pisano * Andrea Pisano *

Michelozzo Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi (; – 7 October 1472), known mononymously as Michelozzo, was an Italian architect and sculptor. Considered one of the great pioneers of architecture during the Renaissance, Michelozzo was a favored Medici ...

* Desiderio da Settignano *

Andrea del Verrocchio Andrea del Verrocchio ( , , ; born Andrea di Michele di Francesco de' Cioni; – 1488) was an Italian sculpture, sculptor, List of Italian painters, painter and goldsmith who was a master of an important workshop in Florence. He apparently bec ...

* Giovanni Francesco Toscani * Lorenzo di Bicci * Bicci di Lorenzo *

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 three ...

* Nanni di Banco * Antonio Rossellino and

Bernardo Rossellino Bernardo di Matteo del Borra Gamberelli (1409–1464), 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 second generation of Renaiss ...

* Giovanni dal Ponte * Fra Giovanni da Fiesole (

Fra Angelico Fra Angelico, O.P. (; ; born Guido di Pietro; 18 February 1455) was a Dominican friar and Italian Renaissance painter of the Early Renaissance, described by Giorgio Vasari in his ''Lives of the Artists'' as having "a rare and perfect talent" ...

) * Lorenzo Monaco * Dello Delli *

Spinello Aretino Spinello Aretino (c. 1350 – c. 1410) was an Italian Painting, painter from Arezzo, who was active in Tuscany at the end of the 14th and the first decade of the 15th century.Filippo Lippi *

Andrea del Castagno Andrea del Castagno () or Andrea di Bartolo di Bargilla (; – 19 August 1457) was an Italian Renaissance painting, Italian Renaissance painter in Florence, influenced chiefly by Masaccio and Giotto, Giotto di Bondone. His works include fresc ...

Paolo Uccello Paolo Uccello ( , ; 1397 – 10 December 1475), born Paolo di Dono, was an Italian Renaissance painter and mathematician from Florence who was notable for his pioneering work on visual Perspective (graphical), perspective in art. In his book ''Liv ...

* 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 move ...

* Zanobi Strozzi * Zanobi Machiavelli * Baccio da Montelupo *

Benozzo Gozzoli Benozzo Gozzoli (; born Benozzo di Lese; 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 festi ...

* Piero del Pollaiuolo *

Sandro Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), better known as Sandro Botticelli ( ; ) or simply known as Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 1 ...

Domenico Ghirlandaio Domenico di Tommaso Curradi di Doffo Bigordi (2 June 1448 – 11 January 1494), professionally known as Domenico Ghirlandaio (also spelt as Ghirlandajo), was an Italian Renaissance painter born in Florence. Ghirlandaio was part of the so-c ...

Fra Bartolomeo Fra Bartolomeo or Bartolommeo (, , ; 28 March 1472 – 31 October 1517), also known as Bartolommeo di Pagholo, Bartolommeo di San Marco, Bartolomeo di Paolo di Jacopo del Fattorino, and his original nickname Baccio della Porta, was an Ital ...

* Raffaellino del Garbo * Andrea del Sarto *

Michelangelo Buonarroti Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspi ...

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 ( ; ; born Pietro Vannucci or Pietro Vanucci; – 1523), an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael became his most famou ...

* Luca Signorelli *

Filippino Lippi Filippino Lippi (probably 1457 – 18 April 1504) was an Italian Renaissance painter mostly working in Florence, Italy during the later years of the Early Renaissance and first few years of the High Renaissance. He also worked in Rome for a ...

* 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">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-language manuscripts 16th-century manuscripts Biographies about artists Italian art historians Italian biographers Biographical dictionaries of artists

Contents

Provenance

Artists mentioned or profiled

Notes

References

External links