Misplaced Pages

#714285

28-546: Antonio Ovetari was a Padua notary who, at his death, left a large sum for the decoration of the family chapel in the Church of the Eremitani . The project was carried out by his widow, Imperatrice Ovetari, who, in 1448, commissioned the work to a group of artists, which included the elder Giovanni d'Alemagna , Antonio Vivarini (a Venetian late Gothic painter) and two young Paduans, Niccolò Pizzolo and Andrea Mantegna . The latter at

56-456: A Pietà . Many important Florentine families had daughters in the convent at Sant'Apollonia, so painting there probably brought Andrea to their attention. The Last Supper displays Andrea del Castagno's talents at their best. The detail and naturalism of this fresco show the ways in which he departed from earlier artistic styles. It is likely that Leonardo da Vinci was already familiar with this work before he painted his own Last Supper in

84-625: A more dramatic form to contrast with the stillness of these works, so that more emotion would be displayed. In 1449–1450 he painted the Assumption with Saints Julian and Miniato for the main altar (in the Saint Julian Chapel) of the church of San Miniato fra le Torri in Florence (now in Berlin ). In the same years he collaborated with Filippo Carducci to paint a series of Illustrious People for

112-413: A rectangular base, covered by a cross vault which is connected to a pentagonal apse introduced by an arch, where are a circular opening and four windows which illuminate the chapel. The Chapel was dedicated to the saints James and Christopher. The two lateral walls were dedicated to the stories of each saint, with six episodes placed on three sections. The upper one consisted of a round lunette. Despite

140-569: A village near Monte Falterona , not far from Florence. During the war between Florence and Milan, he lived in Corella , returning to his home after its end. In 1440 he moved to Florence under the protection of Bernadetto de' Medici . Here he painted the portraits of the citizens hanged after the Battle of Anghiari on the facade of the Palazzo del Podestà, gaining the nickname of Andrea degli Impiccati . Little

168-526: Is a representation of the Assumption of the Virgin by Mantegna. There are also further fragments, likely painted on the piers. The vault was decorated with Four Evangelists by Antonio Vivarini between festoons by Giovanni d'Alemagna, while the apse was divided into sectors, where Mantegna had frescoed the saints Peter, Paul and Christopher within a stone frame with fruit festoons. These figures show similarities with

196-618: Is known about his training, though it has been hypothesised that he apprenticed under Fra Filippo Lippi and Paolo Uccello . In 1440–1441 he executed the fresco of the Crucifixion with Saints in the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova , whose perspective-oriented construction and figures show the influence of Masaccio. In 1442 he was in Venice where he executed frescoes in the San Tarasio Chapel of

224-665: The Trinity with Saints Jerome, Paula and Eustochium and Saint Julian and the Redeemer , the former showing a stressed realism). A Crucifixion for Sant'Apollonia from those years is also attributed to him. In 1456 he executed the fresco of the Equestrian Monument of Niccolò da Tolentino in the Duomo of Florence, paralleling the similar painting by Paolo Uccello portraying Sir John Hawkwood . Giorgio Vasari , an artist and biographer of

252-520: The Italian Renaissance , alleged that Castagno murdered the artist Domenico Veneziano, but this is impossible, since Veneziano died in 1461, four years after Castagno died of the plague . It has been suggested that Vasari was confusing this murder case with another one involving a "Domenico di Matteo" who was killed by an "Andreino" in 1448, but the archival record shows that this is a misreading: "A cursory examination reveals two things: first, that

280-524: The Chapel was completed by an altarpiece in terracotta covered with bronze by Pizzolo, which, although very damaged, is still existing. It shows a Holy Conversation in bas-relief. 45°24′37″N 11°52′48″E  /  45.41028°N 11.88000°E  / 45.41028; 11.88000 Church of the Eremitani The Church of the Eremitani (Italian: Chiesa degli Eremitani ), or Church of

308-690: The Hermits , is a former- Augustinian , 13th-century Gothic -style church in Padua , region of the Veneto, Italy . It is also now notable for being adjacent to the Cappella Scrovegni with Giotto frescoes and the municipal archeology and art gallery: the Musei Civici agli Eremitani , which is housed in the former Augustinian monastery located to the left of the entrance. The Augustinian hermit friars , precursors of

SECTION 10

#1732851528715

336-598: The Renaissance painter Mantegna . The chapel was largely destroyed by a March 1944 aerial bombardment by the Allies in World War II , because it was located next to a German headquarters. There are more than 88,000 fragments covering only 77 square metres, while the original area covered several hundreds. The church still preserves frescoes from other painters including Guariento and Ansuino da Forlì . The church contains

364-828: The Villa Carducci at Legnaia . These include Pippo Spano , Farinata degli Uberti , Niccolò Acciaioli , Dante Alighieri , Petrarch , Giovanni Boccaccio , the Cumaean Sibyl , Esther and Tomyris . Also from around 1450 is the Crucifixion in London, as well as the David with the Head of Goliath and the Portrait of a Man , both in Washington. Between January 1451 and September 1453 he completed

392-405: The apse. In 1449 there were the first personal problems between Mantegna and Pizzolo, the latter accusing the former of continuous interferences in the execution of the chapel's altarpiece. This led to a redistribution of the works among the artists; perhaps due to this Mantegna halted his work and visited Ferrara . In 1450 Giovanni, who had executed only the decorative festoons of the vault, died;

420-570: The central wall with the Assumption of the Virgin and then completed the lower sector of the Stories of St. Cristopher begun by Bono da Ferrara and Ansuino da Forlì, where he painted two unified scenes: the Martyrdom of St. Christopher . In 1457, Imperatrice Ovetari sued Mantegna, accusing him of having painted, in the Assumption , only eight apostles instead of twelve. Two painters from Milan, Pietro da Milano and Giovanni Storlato, were called in to solve

448-754: The church of San Zaccaria . Later he also worked in St Mark's Basilica , leaving a fresco of the Death of the Virgin (1442–1443). Back in Florence, he designed a stained window depicting the Deposition for the Duomo. On 30 May 1445 he became a member of the Guild of the Medicians. From the same year is the fresco of Madonna and Child with Saints in the Contini Bonacossi Collection ( Uffizi ). In 1447 Castagno worked in

476-499: The following year Vivarini also left the work, after he had completed four Evangelists in the vault. They were replaced by Bono da Ferrara and Ansuino da Forlì , whose style was influenced by that of Piero della Francesca . Mantegna began to work from the apse vault, where he placed three saints, mixed with the Doctors of the Church by Pizzolo. Later Mantegna likely moved to the lunette on

504-674: The frescoes by Andrea del Castagno in the Venetian Church of San Zaccaria (1442), both in the format and their sculptural firmness. Also similar is the cloud on which the figures are standing. In the remaining spaces were the Eternal Father Blessing and the Doctors of the Church within frames, frescoed by Niccolò Pizzolo. The Doctors were majestic figures, the saints being portrayed as Humanist scholars at work in their studios. The arch had two big heads, usually identified as self-portraits by Mantegna and Pizzolo. The decoration of

532-495: The frescoes of Scenes of the Life of the Virgin left unfinished by Domenico Veneziano in the church of Sant'Egidio, Florence (now lost). In October Filippo Carducci commissioned him to paint frescoes for his villa at Soffiano, of which today an Eve and a ruined Madonna with Child survive. In 1455 Andrea del Castagno worked in the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata (frescoes with

560-564: The left wall, with the Vocation of Sts. James and John and the Preaching of St. James , completed within 1450, and then moved to the middle sector. At the end of 1451 the works were halted due to lack of funds. They were restarted in November 1453 and completed in 1457. This second phase saw Mantegna alone at work, as Pizzolo had also died in 1453. Mantegna completed the Stories of St. James , frescoed

588-516: The matter. They justified Mantegna's choice due to the lack of space. Around 1880 two scenes, the Assumption and the Martyrdom of St. Christopher , were detached from the walls. During World War II the two frescoes were stored in a separate location and were thus saved from the destruction of all the rest of the cycle during an Allied air bombardment of 11 March 1944. The destroyed scenes are known today through black-and-white photographic reproductions. The Chapel consists of an entrance room with

SECTION 20

#1732851528715

616-430: The monastery. The church was re-opened to services in 1808, and in 1817 redesignated a parish church. The facade is tall with a rose window. A 15th-century side portal has bas-reliefs depicting the months, completed by Nicolò Baroncelli. The interior has a single nave. The church no longer houses the famed Ovetari Chapel frescoes, depicting scenes from the lives of Saints James and Christopher , painted 1448-1457 by

644-401: The presence of several painters in the work, the layout of the cycle is generally attributed to Mantegna, who devised the architectural frames. The stories portrayed were inspired by Jacobus de Voragine 's Golden Legend . The northern wall was entirely painted by Mantegna and included: The southern wall included the Stories of St. Christopher : On the central wall, where is the window,

672-505: The present Order of Saint Augustine had arrived in Padua in 1237. Through the patronage of both the wife of the local nobleman Zaccaria dell'Arena and the city, the church was erected between 1260 and 1276 and dedicated to the saints Philip and James . The friars would remain in the administration of the monastery and church until 1806, when the Napoleonic régime suppressed the order and closed

700-570: The refectory of the Benedictine nuns at Sant'Apollonia in Florence, painting, in the lower part, a fresco of the Last Supper , accompanied above by other scenes portraying the Passion of Christ: the Crucifixion , Entombment , and Resurrection , which are now damaged. This combination of scenes is not known to have been represented before. He also painted a lunette in the convent's cloister, depicting

728-474: The time was seventeen years old and had just begun his apprenticeship in Squarcione 's workshop. According to the original agreement, the first two artists had to paint the arch with histories of the Passion of Christ (never executed), the cross vault and the right wall ( Histories of St. Chrisopther ) while the two Paduans would paint the rest, including the left wall ( Histories of St. James, son of Zebedee ) and

756-621: The tombs of Jacopo II da Carrara (d.1351) and Ubertino da Carrara (d.1345), lords of Padua, both by Andriolo de Santi (de Sanctis) and others. They were formerly in the church of Sant'Agostino , but were moved here after that church was razed in 1819. 45°24′38″N 11°52′47″E  /  45.410566°N 11.879788°E  / 45.410566; 11.879788 Andrea del Castagno Andrea del Castagno ( Italian: [anˈdrɛːa del kaˈstaɲɲo] ) or Andrea di Bartolo di Bargilla ( pronounced [anˈdrɛːa di ˈbartolo di barˈdʒilla] ; c.  1419 – 19 August 1457)

784-626: Was an Italian Renaissance painter in Florence , influenced chiefly by Masaccio and Giotto di Bondone . His works include frescoes in Sant'Apollonia in Florence and the painted equestrian monument of Niccolò da Tolentino (1456) in Florence Cathedral . He in turn influenced the Ferrarese school of Cosmè Tura , Francesco del Cossa and Ercole de' Roberti . Andrea del Castagno was born at Castagno ,

#714285