Gentile da Fabriano
Gentile da Fabriano (c. 1370 – 1427) was an Italian painter known for his highly ornate and decorative paintings of the so-called International Gothic style.
-Virgin and Child
Gentile was born in or near the Italian city of Fabriano. His first known painting, the Virgin and Child dates from 1395-1400 and shows elements of Northern Italian painting.
-Madonna with Child
-Madonna and Child with Two Angels
-Virgin and Child with Two Saints
-Nativity
By 1405, the artist was working in Venice. Gentile Bellini may have worked in his studio, and Da Fabriano certainly was acquainted with the painter, Pisanello:
Pisanello- Portrait of a Princess
One of Da Fabriano's greatest masterworks, the Valle Romita Polyptych dates from 1410-12:
- Valle Romita Polyptych
- The Coronation of the Virgin from the Valle Romita Polyptych
-The Coronation of the Virgin (detail)
In 1414 he moved to Brescia, at the service of Pandolfo III Malatesta, father of the infamous and despicable Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta. In the Spring 1420 he was again in Frabriano.
-The Nativity
-The Flight into Egypt
-The Adoration of the Magi
-The Annunciation
Da Fabriano's painting of The Annunciation suggests an awareness of the great painting of the same subject (c. 1333) by the Sienese Master, Simone Martini...
-Simone Martini- The Annunciation
... and establishes a clear example for the later Florentine Master, Fra Angelico:
-Fra Angelico- The Annunciation
On 6 August 1420 he was in Florence, where he painted his famous altarpiece depicting the Adoration of the Magi (1423), now in the Uffizi, a painting regarded as one of the masterpieces of the International Gothic style:
It has been suggested by some that Da Fabriano was the artist who created the magnificent set of Tarot cards known as the Visconti-Sforza Tarot, commissioned by Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan, and by his successor Francesco Sforza. This, however, is highly unlikely as the cards were produced around 1451, almost 25 years after Da Fabriano's death. The resplendent, decorative style of the cards... and the flattened forms certainly echo the work of Da Fabriano: