Margaritone d'Arezzo

Margaritone d'Arezzo, frontispiece from the Vite by Giorgio Vasari, edition 1568

Margaritone d'Arezzo (* approx. 1240–1290) (actually Margarito ) was an Italian painter, sculptor and architect of the Dugento , perhaps the most important of Aretine art in the 2nd half of the 13th century. Only a small part of his work has survived.

biography

There are only three sources for its existence: a document from 1262, the chapter Margaritone d'Arezzo in the Vite of Giorgio Vasari , and his works, which he always signed contrary to the customs of his time.

According to a hypothesis by Roberto Longhi , he was already working in the first half of the century. Vasari, on the other hand, writes in the Vite that he was only verifiable after 1260, at least that he was a valued artist in the Arezzo area .

Works

Margaritone worked as a sculptor and architect in Ancona . Vasari ascribes the Palazzo degli Anziani to him, including the bas-reliefs on the facade. The dome of Ancona Cathedral was also attributed to him, but the hypothesis is now being challenged.

Margaritone d'Arezzo: Madonna col Bambino , panel, around 1250, 57 × 127 cm, from the Church of Santa Maria a Montelungo ( Museo statale d'arte medievale e moderna , Arezzo)

The Madonna and Child from the Church of Santa Maria a Montelungo (1250?) Is one of his characteristic paintings outside the mainstream of his time, with clearly archaic, Byzantine features. The signature MARGARIT ° DE ARITIO ME FEC [IT] can be seen on the lower edge .

Picture gallery

Madonna col Bambino , National Gallery of Art , Washington
Madonna col bambino and four episodes from the life of the virgin
Madonna con bambino in trono National Gallery of Art , London
St. Francis of Assisi , Musei Vaticani
Dome (13th century) of the Cathedral of San Ciriaco (10th-12th centuries)
Facade of the Palazzo degli Anziani (Ancona) , around 1270

Individual evidence

↑ Today some of these have been transferred to the Pinacoteca Podesti ; all were made around 1270. s. Giorgio Vasari, Vite , 1550 and 1568
↑ On the discussion of attribution see: Autori vari (Ed. Maria Luisa Polichetti): La cattedrale di Ancona. Federico Motta editore, 2003, ISBN 88-7179-353-6

personal data
SURNAME	Margaritone d'Arezzo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Margarito
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Italian painter, sculptor and architect
DATE OF BIRTH	around 1240
DATE OF DEATH	around 1290

[1] Today some of these have been transferred to the Pinacoteca Podesti ; all were made around 1270. s. Giorgio Vasari, Vite , 1550 and 1568

[2] On the discussion of attribution see: Autori vari (Ed. Maria Luisa Polichetti): La cattedrale di Ancona. Federico Motta editore, 2003, ISBN 88-7179-353-6