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GOZZOLI, BENOZZO
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See also:GOZZOLI, BENOZZO , See also:Italian painter, was See also:born in See also:Florence in 1424, or perhaps 1420, and in the See also:early See also:part of his career assisted Fra See also:Angelico, whom he followed to See also:Rome and worked with at See also:Orvieto. In Rome he executed in See also:Santa Maria in Aracoeli a See also:fresco of " St See also:Anthony and Two Angels." In 1449 he See also:left Angelico, and went to See also:Montefalco, near See also:Foligno in See also:Umbria. In S. Fortunato, near Montefalco, he painted a "Madonna and See also:Child with See also:Saints and Angels," and three other See also:works. One of these, the See also:altar-piece representing " St See also: Another small picture in the same gallery, the " See also:Rape of See also:Helen," is of dubious authenticity. In 1464 Gozzoli left Florence for S. Gimignano, where he executed some extensive works; in the church of S. See also:Agostino, a composition of St See also:Sebastian protecting the See also:City from the .See also:Plague of this same See also:year, 1464; over the entire choir of the church, a triple course of scenes from the legends of St See also:Augustine, from the See also:time of his entering the school of Tegaste on to his See also:burial, seventeen See also:chief subjects, with some accessories; in the Pieve di S. Gimignano, the "Martyrdom of Sebastian," and other subjects, and some further works in the city and its vicinity. Here his style combined something of Lippo See also:Lippi with its See also:original elements, and he received co-operation from Giusto d'See also:Andrea. He stayed in this city till 1467, and then began, in the Campo Santo of See also:Pisa, from 1469, the vast See also:series of mural paintings with which his name is specially identified. There are twenty-four subjects from the Old Testament, from the " Invention of See also:Wine by See also:Noah " to the " Visit of the See also:Queen of Sheba to See also:Solomon." He contracted to paint three subjects per year for about ten ducats each—a sum which may be regarded as See also:equivalent to boo at the See also:present See also:day. It appears, however, that this See also:contract was not strictly adhered to, for the actual See also:rate of See also:painting was only three pictures in two years. Perhaps the See also:great multitude of figures and accessories was accepted as a set-off against the slower rate of See also:production. By See also:January 1470 he had executed the fresco of " Noah and his See also:Family,"—followed by the " Curse of See also:Ham," the "See also:Building of the See also:Tower of See also:Babel " (which contains portraits of Cosmo de' See also:Medici, the See also:young Lorenzo See also:Politian and others), the " Destruction of Sodom," the "Victory of See also:Abraham," the " Marriages of Rebecca and of See also:Rachel," the " Life of See also:Moses," &c.. In the Cappella Ammannati, facing a See also:gate of the Campo Santo, he painted also an "See also:Adoration of the Magi," wherein appears a portrait of himself. All this enormous See also:mass of work, in which Gozzoli was probably assisted by Zanobi Macchiavelli, was performed, in addition to several other pictures during his stay in Pisa (we need only specify the " See also:Glory of St Thomas See also:Aquinas," now in the Louvre), in sixteen years, lasting up to 1485. This is the latest date which can with certainty be assigned to any work from his See also:hand, although he is known to have been alive up to 1498. In 1478 the See also:Pisan authorities had given him, as a token of their regard, a See also:tomb in the Campo Santo. He had likewise a See also:house of his own in Pisa, and houses and See also:land in Florence. In rectitude of life he is said to have been worthy of his first See also:master, Fra Angelico. The art of Gozzoli does not See also:rival that of his greatest contemporaries either in See also:elevation or in strength, but is pre-eminently attractive by its sense of what is See also:rich, winning, lively and abundant in the aspects of men and things. His landscapes, thronged with birds and quadrupeds, especially See also:dogs, are more varied, circumstantial and alluring than those of any predecessor; his compositions are crowded with figures, more characteristically true when happily and gracefully occupied than when the demands of the subject require tragic or dramatic intensity, or turmoil of See also:action; his See also:colour is See also:bright, vivacious and festive. Gozzoli's See also:genius was, on the whole, more versatile and assimilative than vigorously original; his See also:drawing not See also:free from considerable imperfections, especially in the extremities and articulations, and in the See also:perspective of his gorgeously-schemed buildings. In fresco-painting heused the methods of See also:tempera, and the decay of his works has been severe in proportion. Of his untiring See also:industry the See also:recital of his labours and the number of works produced are the most forcible See also:attestation. See also:Vasari, See also:Crowe and Cavalcaselle, and the other See also:ordinary authorities, can be consulted as to the career of Gozzoli. A See also:separate Life of him, by H. See also:Stokes, was published in 1903 in Newnes's Art library. (W. M. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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