Lorenzo Monaco
Encyclopedia
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
of the late Gothic-early Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
age.
Biography
He was born Piero di Giovanni in SienaSiena
Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...
. Little is known about his youth years, apart from the fact that he apprenticed in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
. He was influenced by Giotto and his followers Spinello Aretino
Spinello Aretino
Spinello Aretino was an Italian painter, the son of a Florentine named Luca, who had taken refuge in Arezzo in 1310 when exiled with the rest of the Ghibelline party.-Biography:...
and Agnolo Gaddi
Agnolo Gaddi
Agnolo Gaddi was an Italian painter. He was the son and pupil of the painter Taddeo Gaddi.Taddeo Gaddi was himself the major pupil of the Florentine master Giotto...
.
In 1390 joined the Camaldolese
Camaldolese
The Camaldolese monks and nuns are part of the Benedictine family of monastic communities which follow the way of life outlined in the Rule of St. Benedict, written in the 6th century...
monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli
Santa Maria degli Angeli, Florence
Santa Maria degli Angeli is the former church of a now-defunct monastery in Florence, Italy. It belonged to the Camaldolese order, which was a reformed branch of the Benedictines. The congregation was founded in 1012 by the hermit St. Romuald at Camaldoli, near Arezzo, hence the name...
. He was thenceforth generally known as Lorenzo Monaco (English: "Lawrence the Monk"). In the 1390s he executed three panels of the Biblioteca Laurenziana for his convent.
Starting from around 1404 his works show the influence of the International Gothic
International Gothic
International Gothic is a phase of Gothic art which developed in Burgundy, Bohemia, France and northern Italy in the late 14th century and early 15th century...
, of Lorenzo Ghiberti
Lorenzo Ghiberti
Lorenzo Ghiberti , born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian artist of the early Renaissance best known for works in sculpture and metalworking.-Early life:...
's earliest works and of Gherardo Starnina
Gherardo Starnina
Gherardo Starnina was an Italian painter from Florence.According to the biographer Giorgio Vasari, Starnina initially trained with Antonio Veneziano, then with Agnolo Gaddi. He is claimed to have participated in the painting of the frescos in the Castellani Chapel in Santa Croce, Florence...
. From this period is the Pietà in the Gallerie dell'Accademia
Accademia di Belle Arti Firenze
The Accademia di Belle Arti is an art academy in Florence, Italy and it is now the operative branch of the still existing Accademia delle Arti del Disegno that was the first academy of drawing in Europe.-History:The Accademia delle Arti del Disegno The Accademia di Belle Arti ("Academy of Fine...
in Florence. His works, often over a gilted background, showed in general a spiritual value, and usually did not feature profane elements.
In 1414 he painted the Coronation of the Virgin
Coronation of the Virgin (Lorenzo Monaco)
The Coronation of the Virgin is a tempera on panel polyptych by the Italian late Gothic artist Lorenzo Monaco. Once in the Camaldolese monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli, it is now housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence...
(now at the Uffizi
Uffizi
The Uffizi Gallery , is a museum in Florence, Italy. It is one of the oldest and most famous art museums of the Western world.-History:...
), characterized by a great number of saints and brilliant colors. In the late part of his life, Lorenzo did not accept the early Renaissance innovations introduced by artists such as Masaccio
Masaccio
Masaccio , born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, was the first great painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance. According to Vasari, Masaccio was the best painter of his generation because of his skill at recreating lifelike figures and movements as well as a convincing sense...
and Brunelleschi
Filippo Brunelleschi
Filippo Brunelleschi was one of the foremost architects and engineers of the Italian Renaissance. He is perhaps most famous for inventing linear perspective and designing the dome of the Florence Cathedral, but his accomplishments also included bronze artwork, architecture , mathematics,...
. This is visible in the Adoration of the Magi
Adoration of the Magi (Lorenzo Monaco)
The Adoration of the Magi is a tempera on panel painting by the Italian late Gothic artist Lorenzo Monaco, now housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.-History:...
of 1420-1422, where the now widespread geometrical perspective is totally absent. Lorenzo's works remained popular in the 1420, as testified by the numerous commissions he received, such as the Stories of the Virgin in the Bartolini Salimbeni Chapel
Bartolini Salimbeni Chapel
The Bartolini Salimbeni Chapel 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 International Gothic frescoes in Italy...
of Santa Trinita
Santa Trinita
Santa Trinita is a church in central Florence, Italy. It is the mother church of the Vallumbrosan Order of monks, founded in 1092 by a Florentine nobleman...
, one of his few frescoes.
Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari was an Italian painter, writer, historian, and architect, who is famous today for his biographies of Italian artists, considered the ideological foundation of art-historical writing.-Biography:...
includes a biography of Lorenzo Monaco in his Lives
Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects
The Lives of the Most Excellent Italian Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, from Cimabue to Our Times, or Le Vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architettori da Cimabue insino a' tempi nostri, as it was originally known in Italian, is a series of artist biographies written by 16th century...
. According to the Florentine historian, he died for a not well identified infection, perhaps a gangrene
Gangrene
Gangrene is a serious and potentially life-threatening condition that arises when a considerable mass of body tissue dies . This may occur after an injury or infection, or in people suffering from any chronic health problem affecting blood circulation. The primary cause of gangrene is reduced blood...
or a tumour.
Works
His works include:- Madonna and Child with Saints (1395–1402)
- Incidents in the Life of Saint Benedict (c. 1407-1409)
- Nativity (1409), a panel believed to form part of a predellaPredellaA predella is the platform or step on which an altar stands . In painting, the predella is the painting or sculpture along the frame at the bottom of an altarpiece...
- Coronation of the VirginCoronation of the Virgin (Lorenzo Monaco)The Coronation of the Virgin is a tempera on panel polyptych by the Italian late Gothic artist Lorenzo Monaco. Once in the Camaldolese monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli, it is now housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence...
(1414), also for Santa Maria degli Angeli - Annunciation TriptychAnnunciation TriptychThe 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:...
(1410-1415), Gallerie dell'Accademia, FlorenceFlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area.... - Bartolini Salimbeni ChapelBartolini Salimbeni ChapelThe Bartolini Salimbeni Chapel 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 International Gothic frescoes in Italy...
(1410-1415), Santa TrinitaSanta TrinitaSanta Trinita is a church in central Florence, Italy. It is the mother church of the Vallumbrosan Order of monks, founded in 1092 by a Florentine nobleman...
, Florence - Adoration of the MagiAdoration of the Magi (Lorenzo Monaco)The Adoration of the Magi is a tempera on panel painting by the Italian late Gothic artist Lorenzo Monaco, now housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.-History:...
(1422)