Lorenzo Monaco

Lorenzo Monaco (lōrĕn`tsō mō`näkō), c.1370–1425?, Italian painter, one of the leading artists in Florence at the beginning of the 15th cent. His real name was Piero di Giovanni. Born in Siena, he came to Florence (c.1391) and became a Camaldolite monk. His early works show a Sienese influence, evidenced in his sophisticated use of line and delicate rendering of texture. His only signed work is the Coronation of the Virgin (1414; Uffizi). His Adoration of the Magi (Uffizi) reflects the international Gothic style, with its elongated figures and rich pageantry. Other works include an altarpiece, Annunciation, and frescoes from the Life of the Virgin (Bartolini Chapel, Santa Trinita, Florence); a smaller Coronation of the Virgin (National Gall., London); a Madonna and Child (Metropolitan Mus.); and a Madonna and Child (National Gall. of Art, Washington, D.C.).

Bibliography

See B. Berenson, The Drawings of the Florentine Painters (Vol. II and III, 1938, repr. 1970).

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Lorenzo Monaco

 orig. Piero di Giovanni

(born c. 1370/71, Siena, Republic of Siena—died c. 1425, Florence, Republic of Florence) Italian painter. He took the vows of the Camaldolese order in Florence in 1391 (Monaco means “Monk”), but in 1402 he was enrolled in the painters' guild there under his lay name and living outside the monastery. His work combined the graceful lines and decorative feeling of the Sienese school with the traditions of the Florentine school. His Coronation of the Virgin (1413) reveals his predilection for swirling draperies and rhythmic, curvilinear forms and his understanding of light. His late frescoes in the Bartolini Chapel of Santa Trinità in Florence establish him as a master of Gothic art.