Bonaventura Berlinghieri (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1228–1274) was an Italian painter from

Lucca Città di Lucca ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its Province of Lucca, province has a population of 383,9 ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, of the Gothic period. He was son of painter Berlinghiero Berlinghieri and brother of Barone and Marco Berlinghieri. His work is reported to have flourished in between the years ''AD 1235'' and ''AD 1244Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Bonaventura Berlinghieri". Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 Apr. 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bonaventura-Berlinghieri. Accessed 31 August 2024.''. Bonaventura painted several panels and wall-paintings at

, in 1235 and 1244. He is most famous for an

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

dedicated to the life of

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone ( 1181 – 3 October 1226), known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italians, Italian Mysticism, mystic, poet and Friar, Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Inspired to lead a Chris ...

. This altarpiece is painted in

tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. ''Tempera'' also refers to the paintings done in ...

on wood panel in the Italo-Byzantine or ''maniera greca'' style. It depicts the

stigmata Stigmata (, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Roman Catholicism, Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion Five Holy Wounds, wounds of Jesus in Christian ...

as well as several scenes from the saint's life. The altarpiece, sometimes referenced as the ''Pescia Work'', is credited with being one of the first iconographic depiction of the narrative of St. Francis of Assisi's life. This

is housed in the Church of San Francesco of

Pescia Pescia () is an Italian city in the province of Pistoia, Tuscany, central Italy. It is located in a central zone between the cities Lucca and Florence, on the banks of the river of the same name. History Archaeological excavations have suggest ...

where it can be seen today. The Via B. Berlinghieri in Lucca is named after the family.

References

Further reading