Domenico di Michelino
Domenico di Michelino (1417–1491) was an Italian Renaissance painter who was born and died in Florence. His birth name was Domenico di Francesco. The patronymic "di Michelino" was adopted in honour of his teacher, the cassone painter Michelino di Benedetto (c. 1378-1499), by whom no works have been identified. Giorgio Vasari reports that Domenico was also a pupil of Fra Angelico, whose influence is reflected in many of Domenico's paintings along with that of Filippo Lippi and Pesellino.
Domenico enrolled in the Florentine painters' confraternity, the Compagnia di San Luca, by 1442. Two years later he joined the Arte dei Medici e Speziali, the Florentine painters' guild. He had a workshop in the Via delle Terme, Florence, which he shared with Domenico di Zanobi (formerly known as the Master of the Johnson Nativity).[1]
His earliest extant work is a processional banner for the Ospedale degli Innocenti, Florence, in which the Virgin is shown protecting the martyred innocents beneath her mantle. Commissioned in 1440 and completed in 1446, the picture was entirely repainted in the sixteenth century by Michele Tosini.[2]
In 1449-50 Domenico painted the chapel of Saint Leonard in the church of Santa Maria a Peretola on the outskirts of Florence. The chapel includes a lunette with a scene of Saint Leonard Freeing Prisoners as well as images of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Saint Lucy and musical angels.[3]
In 1458 Domenico painted an altarpiece of the Madonna and Child with Saints, now at the
Domenico's most famous work is the Comedy Illuminating Florence on the north wall of the cathedral of
Domenico was still active in 1483 but few of his works from this period survive.[8] He died in Florence on 18 April 1491 and was buried in the church of Sant'Ambrogio.[2]
The art historian Bernard Berenson mistakenly assigned all of Domenico's paintings to Giusto d'Andrea (1440-1496),[9] and misattributed Zanobi Strozzi's paintings to Domenico di Michelino.[9]
References
- ^ Bernacchioni, Annamaria (1997). "Una proposta di identificazione per il Maestro della Natività Johnson, collaboratore di Filippo Lippi a Prato". La Toscana al Tempo di Lorenzo Il Magnifico: Politica, Economia, Cultura. 1: 312–324.
- ^ a b c Casini Wanrooij, Marzia (1991). "Domenico di Francesco, detto Domenico di MIchelino". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani. 40 – via Treccani.it.
- ^ Bernacchioni, Annamaria (2000). "Le vicende pittoriche della chiesa di Santa Maria a Peretola nel Quattrocento". Arte, Musica, Spettacolo: Annali del Dipartimento di Storia delle Arti e Dello Spettacolo: 223–236.
- ^ "Domenico di Michelino, Thronende Madonna mit Kind und den hll. Laurentius, Antonius Abbas, Julian, Lucia, Cyriacus und Johannes Gualbertus (Sacra Conversazione), 1458, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen - Alte Pinakothek, München".
- ^ "collections du musée des beaux-arts de Dijon".
- ^ Bernacchioni, Annamaria (1990). "Documenti e precisazioni sull'attività tarda di Domenico di Michelino: la sua bottega di via delle Terme". Antichità Viva. 6: 5–14.
- ^ Jelbert, Rebecca: 'Aping the Masters?: Michelangelo and the Laocoön Group.' Journal of Art Crime, issue 22 (Fall/ Winter 2019), pp.9 and 14-15, figures 9-11.
- ^ Geronimus, Dennis. "Arbitrating Artistry: The Case of Domenico di Michelino in 1483". The Burlington Magazine. 144: 691–694.
- ^ a b Berenson, Bernard (1963). Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: Florentine School. London: Phaidon.
Sources
- Web Gallery of Art biography
- World of Dante Multimedia website that features Domenico di Michelino's painting with interactive features.
External links
- Italian Paintings: Florentine School, a collection catalog containing information about di Michelino and his works (see pages: 105-106).