Lorenzo Monaco Born Piero di Giovanni c , but took the name Lorenzo when he became a monk at the monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli (St. Mary of the Angels) in Florence. (Note that Monaco means “monk”; it was not the artist’s name. Therefore, don’t call him Monaco! Start by giving him his full name, then call him Lorenzo.) Lorenzo Monaco, Annunciation with Saints ( )

Andrea di Bonaiuto, polyptych (1360s) Lorenzo Monaco, Annunciation with Saints ( )

Sts. Catherine and AnthonySts. Proculus and Francis

Sts. Catherine and Anthony Detail including St. Anthony’s pig

Lorenzo Monaco

Lorenzo Monaco, Coronation of the Virgin (1414): originally the high altarpiece of Santa Maria degli Angeli Note that the Camaldolese (or Camaldolite) Order was founded in the 11th century by St. Romuald at Camaldoli, a remote spot located in a mountainous region near Florence.

Lorenzo Monaco, Nativity: predella panel of Coronation Predella of Coronation of the Virgin

Lorenzo Monaco, Nativity: predella panel of Coronation Master Francke (German), Nativity, 1424 Typical early 15th-century Nativity iconography

Modern map of Italy, including the town of Fabriano, Gentile’s birthplace Gentile da Fabriano Gentile from Fabriano: c. 1370?- 1426/27 The name Gentile literally means “gentle,” “delicate,” “tender,” and according to Vasari, Michelangelo acclaimed Gentile as a painter “whose hand was similar to his name” (“aveva la mano simile al nome”). (Note: Don’t call him Fabriano! Start by giving him his full name, then call him Gentile.)

The Strozzi Altarpiece was commissioned by Palla Strozzi for his family’s burial chapel in the Florentine church of Santa Trinita. Palla was the immensely wealthy head of the Strozzi clan, which comprised 31 separate households in the early 15th century. He was one of the leading figures in Florentine politics before being exiled from the city following Cosimo de’ Medici’s coup d’état in Gentile da Fabriano, Strozzi Altarpiece (1423)

Adoration of the Magi: main panel of the Strozzi Altarpiece

Adoration of the Magi and detail

Details

Note Gentile’s signature: Opus Gentilis de Fabriano (“the work of Gentile da Fabriano”)

Details

Note foreshortened head viewed from above

Note also pastiglia technique

Adoration of the Magi and detail: the Magi viewing the star that will guide them to Bethlehem

Adoration of the Magi and detail: journey of the Magi to Bethlehem

Adoration of the Magi and detail: arrival of the Magi at Bethlehem

Strozzi Altarpiece Nativity: predella panel

Lorenzo Monaco, predella panel from Coronation of the Virgin (1414) Gentile (1423)

Nativity and detail

Masaccio Tommaso di Giovanni, nicknamed Masaccio, was born on December 21 (St. Thomas’s day), 1401, in a town near Florence. He died in Rome sometime in the fall of 1428 (perhaps having been poisoned), probably before his 27th birthday. Modern Reconstruction of Masaccio’s Pisa Polyptych (1426) from the Carmelite church in Pisa

Modern Reconstruction of Masaccio’s Pisa Polyptych Masaccio, Adoration of the Magi (predella panel from the Pisa Polyptych)

Gentile da Fabriano, Adoration of the Magi: main panel of Strozzi Altarpiece (1423) Masaccio, Adoration of the Magi: predella panel of Pisa Polyptych (1426)

Masaccio, Adoration of the Magi: predella panel of Pisa Polyptych Note: isocephaly aerial or atmospheric perspective foreshortened haloes, animals, etc.

Masaccio, Adoration of the Magi and detail of bystanders—presumably the donors

Enthroned Madonna and Child: main panel of Pisa Polyptych

Enthroned Madonna and Child: main panel of Pisa Polyptych

Modern reconstruction of Pisa Polyptych

Modern reconstruction of Pisa Polyptych (1426) Andrea di Bonaiuto: polyptych (1360s)

Modern reconstruction of Pisa Polyptych (1426) Lorenzo Monaco, Annunciation with Saints (c )