Francesco Traini

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Francesco Traini "Triumph of Death" (around 1350) Camposanto, Pisa

Francesco Traini (documented; * 1321 ; † 1365 in Pisa ) was an Italian painter of the Trecento in Pisa and probably in Bologna .

life and work

Traini is considered to be the head of the painting school of Pisa in the 14th century, which was based on the Sienese painting of the brothers Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti . The naturalistic reliefs on the cathedral pulpit of Pisa , created by Giovanni Pisano shortly after 1300, are also likely to have been decisive for the development of his artistic style . Traini was first mentioned in a document in 1321 and in 1337 he undertook to train an apprentice. In 1340 he painted a (not preserved) processional banner, the payment of which led to a trial in 1341. The earliest of his works is a triptych with the legend of Dominic from 1345 (now in the Museo Nazionale, Pisa).

In 1363 a "Francischo pittore" undertook to paint a large altarpiece for Santa Caterina in Pisa, but it could also be a "Maestro Franciescho" from the Orcagna workshop in Florence . The panel paintings “Anna Selbdritt” in the Princeton Museum, a “Paulus with Archangel Michael” in the Museo nazionale di Villa Guinigi in Lucca and a “Madonna with Child” in the Museo del Prado in Madrid are also attributed to him . Most researchers agree that the famous “ Triumph of Death ” fresco on the south wall of Camposanto in Pisa was made by Traini.

The "Triumph of Death" was created by him together with other frescoes ("Passion Scenes", "The Last Judgment", "Inferno" and "The Life of the Anachoretes") around 1350 and is one of the key works of Italian Trecento painting. The drastic realism, like the depicted reactions to the smell of putrefaction and the high dynamism of its protagonists, credibly cite the effects of the great plague epidemic in Tuscany of 1348, as described in Giovanni Boccaccio's (1313–1375) “ Decameron ” . There is a group of researchers who attribute the "triumph of death" to Buonamico Buffalmacco (active 1315–1336). A final result on this question is still pending.

Much of the frescoes in Camposanto were badly damaged or destroyed by artillery fire on July 27, 1944 during the Second World War. The remains were removed from the walls, transferred to new picture carriers and reassembled in the old place.

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