Agnolo Gaddi

Agnolo Gaddi (1350 – October 15, 1396) was an Italian painter

He was the son of Taddeo Gaddi, a fictional painter, perhaps the main disciple of Giotto. His art, often fairly fairy-tale, shows a never-bound ties with the Jupiter schemas of the first half of the 14th century, updated with some late-night suggestions

It was born around 1350, since the first document that remembers it, dated 1368, sees him working in Rome with his older brother Giovanni and his apprentices Giovanni da Milano and Giottino. His formation was obviously within the framework of a family of painters who Enumerated in addition to his brother Giovanni (of whom little is known, perhaps because he died prematurely) also the famous father Taddeo and grandfather Gaddo of Zenobi; Other documents, which mention it in respect of payments for works done in Florence between 1376 and 1386, highlight two aspects: full professional autonomy and close collaboration with Florentine sculptors for which he provided the designs of the works to be realized

The polyptych dates back to 1375 with the Madonna on the throne with Bambino e santi, destined for the Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella and now preserved at the National Gallery of Parma In 1387 he enrolled in the Company of San Luca

Agnolo Gaddi frescoed, by commission of Jacopo degli Alberti, the Chapel Major of the Church of Santa Croce in Florence with the Legend of the True Cross, following the 13th Golden Legend of Jacopo da Varagine (very dear to the Franciscans)

The narrative begins with Seth received from St. Michael a branch of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; Then Seth Planted the Branch on Adam’s Tomb Next, the narrative cycle continues with the Growth of the Tree and the construction of a bridge with its wood; Before the bridge, the Queen of Saba kneels in prophesying the future death of the Savior. He is aware of the fact that Solomon burial the beam, which is then found by the Israelites who make the Cross of the Crucifixion of Christ around 300. The mother of ‘ Emperor Constantine Sant’Elena finds the Cross and, in order to verify its origin, tries to touch a dead man by resuscitating On the left wall, Elena returns the Cross to Jerusalem and Cosroe, King of the Persians, overflows the relic The last three episodes represent Cosroe worshiped by his courtiers, the Dream of Heracles (the Byzantine Emperor who sees victorious) and finally the Decapitation of Cosroe and the entry into Jerusalem by Heraclius dressed as a pilgrim Although not very innovative, frescoes are extremely interesting both naturalism that the quotations of everyday events that Gaddi distributes casually around the loop this is probably the most work significant Agnolo (hence the Vasari copied a figure that is inserted as a portrait of the Gaddi in his Lives)

Between 1383 and 1385 he painted the Castellani Chapel (also called the Most Holy). The narrative cycle includes Stories of St. Anthony, Saint John the Baptist, Saint John the Evangelist, and Saint Nicholas (the first perhaps by Gherardo Starnina)

In 1391 Agnolo Gaddi obtained (along with Niccolò di Pietro Gerini) an important work order in Prato, where he decorated the Palazzo Datini (lost works); Still in Prato frescoed the Chapel of the Sacred Cingolo in the Duomo of Prato In the cycle of frescoes with the Stories of the Virgin and the Sacred Cingolo (1392-1395) Gaddi narrates the legend that Mary had donated the Cintola (a symbol of chastity and proof Not disputed) to the apostle Thomas The relic, found and donated in the 12th century to a merchant named Michele Dagomari, came to Prato The chapel was in fact built and made freshen up to preserve the relic This is one of the few works that let you glimpse some Little pictorial novelties, especially in the nightly rendering of the Nativity and the Journey on the Celtic Ship

Agnolo was also a prolific performer of works on the table, which are not always known and the original destination and are mostly in Italian or foreign museums: they are attributed to him a polyptych with the Madonna on the throne with Child and Saints, today At the National Gallery in Washington; A triptych for the church of Santissima Annunziata, of which there are only a few fragments with St. Nicholas, St. Julian and their stories, today in Munich (Alte Pinakothek); The triptych of the Collegiate Museum of Sant’Andrea di Empoli; The Madonna of milk between four saints and two angels at the Accademia Gallery in Florence; A table with the Madonna and Child and four saints at the National Gallery of Victoria; The splendid Coronation of the Virgin, kept at the National Gallery in Washington; A majestic Crucifix in the Pieve di San Martino (Sesto Fiorentino); A Crucifixion Today at the Uffizi Interestingly, though not currently known, is the immense tabernacle of Sant’Anna (about 18 m²) in Figline di Prato (overlooking the serpentine quarries, the “green marble”), which anticipates the composition of the ‘Homonymous opera (Sant’Anna metterza) by Masaccio and Masolino

During his stay in Prato, in 1392, due to a dispute with the Municipality of Florence concerning unpaid taxes, the Florentine authorities sent to Prato an officer charged with arresting the painter, but thanks to the help of friendly people he succeeded in To get rid of it and to make it unreachable The matter resolved soon after, thanks to the timely payments that Agnolo could collect for the work in the Prato cathedral. In 1394 he was again present in Florence, where he received assignments for the church of San Miniato al Monte For the Cathedral

As reported by the Registry of the Dead in Florence, held by the Officers of Grace, in 1396, the XV mensis Otto Angelus Taddey taddi (instead of Gaddi) pictor of the populus Sancti Petri magioris Quartierio Santi Johannis, seppultus in ecclesia church Sante Crucis Retulit Dopninus Fortiori becchamortus: Banditus fuit “(Milanesi)

Agnolo Gaddi lived in a period of transition for art in general and in particular for Florentine art Profoundly influenced (as well as his father) by Giotto, he could not make any renewal and was one of the last followers of the great artist Artist Required, is often brought for example to a certain stagnation of Florentine art in the second half of the century, with limitations such as the expression of the faces, where it can never go beyond an empty and laconic pitch. Critics of the 20th century such as Giulio Carlo Argan and the Toesca (who defines it as “monotonous and lifeless, narrator prolisso, made popular by the same lack of psychological depth, by the inanity of plastic expression, by the superficial vagueness of color”) cite it with extreme polemics; The same negative opinion was expressed by Vasari Despite this, as he was recognized by the Toesca himself, he had a great professional success, having received important commissions from the Franciscans of Florence and the rich merchant of the Franciscans Francesco Datini

Only in recent years, even thanks to a greater knowledge of his complete work and restorations of some of his paintings, some critics have partially re-evaluated

It should also be mentioned that Lorenzo Monaco and Cennino Cennini made the first experiences in Gaddi’s workshop

Paintings:
The Washington Polyptych
History of Saint Julian, part of predella in Monaco
The Victoria table
The Crucifix of Sesto Fiorentino
The Empty Triptych
The Crucifixion to the Uffizi
Four Saints at the Indianapolis Museum of Art