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Benozzo Gozzoli's works |
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| Biography: |
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Benozzo Gozzoli
(1420 - 1497)
Benozzo Gozzoli was born in 1420 in Florence, the son of tailor Lese di Sandro.
Like many other painters of the early Renaissance, Gozzoli was initially trained as a goldsmith. At the age of 27 he began to work with Fra Angelico (1395-1455) in Orvieto and Rome. During his apprenticeship years, 1438-1444/45, in the workshop of Fra Angelico, Gozzoli took part in the decoration of the cells in the Dominican monastery of San Marco. The paintings in Cosimo de¡¯Medici¡¯s double cell (cell 38/39) are thought to have been done almost solely by him, and these include a depiction of the Adoration of the Magi.
After completing the work in San Marco, Benozzo entered into a contract with Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455), to work with him for three years on the second Baptistery door in Florence, the Gate of Paradise, starting from 24 January 1445.
Both Fra Angelico and Lorenzo Ghiberti were to influence his entire work. From Ghiberti he learned precision in depicting the finest details and how to illustrate a story vividly, and from Fra Angelico, he took the latter¡¯s bright color palette, which Gozzoli succeeded in transferring to the art of fresco painting.
After work with Ghiberti, Benozzo returned to Fra Angelico. They worked in Rome and Orvieto, where together with Fra Angelico he painted two of the four vault sections of the Chapel of San Brizio in the cathedral; Christ the Judge, Angels and the Chosen and the Choir of Prophets. The two vault sections that remained empty were completed 52 years later, by Luca Signorelli (ca 1445-1523) using sketches produced by Fra Angelico.
In 1449 Benozzo worked in Montefalco in Umbria where he left frescoes in the churches of San Fortunato and San Francesco. His first major independent commission was the fresco work in the choir of San Francesco in Montefalco with scenes from the life of St. Francis (1450-1452). The cycle of St. Francis in Montefalco contains a total of 17 episodes from the life and work of the saint, arranged in a total of 12 pictures and a lost stained glass window. In the vault, St. Frances is enthroned in glory with angels on either side; he is surrounded by the most important saints of the Franciscan order.
The commission to paint the private Medici Chapel brought the artist back to Florence. As early as 1442 Pope Martin V had given the Medicis permission to build a private chapel with a portable family altar. The chapel, on the first floor of the Medicis¡¯ residence, was built by Michelozzo (1396-1472) between 1446 and 1449 and dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Stimulated by the prestige attached to this commission and the abundance of materials at his disposal (including gold), Gozzoli created one of the most fascinating fresco cycles of 15th-century Florence. Some art historians consi.... |
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[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] |
