Pietro Cavallini | |
|---|---|
_(14597651248).jpg) Engraving of Pietro Cavallini fromLe vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architetti (1767) | |
| Born | c. 1240 |
| Died | c. 1330 Rome, Papal States (now Italy) |
| Notable work | Last Judgment,Santa Cecilia in Trastevere; mosaics inSanta Maria in Trastevere |
Pietro Cavallini (c. 1240 – c. 1330) was an Italian artist active during thelate Middle Ages. His most famous surviving works include theLast Judgment fresco atSanta Cecilia in Trastevere, theLife of the Virgin Mary mosaic cycle atSanta Maria in Trastevere, and several frescos inSan Domenico Maggiore. Despite his prolific career, much of Cavallini’soeuvre has been lost and is known today, albeit tentatively, only through fragments, written descriptions, or stylistic attributions.
Very little is known about Pietro Cavallini's early life, but a legal document from 1273 in the archives ofSanta Maria Maggiore is considered by scholars to be the first place where the artist is named: "Petrus dictus Cavallinus de Cerronibus."[1] Thirty-five years later, a contract referring to "Magister Petrus Cavallinus de Roma pictor" was drafted, stipulating that the artist was to receive 30 ounces of gold, a house, and an annual pension from the King of Naples, likelyCharles II of Naples.[2] While these documents reveal little about Cavalliin's biography, art historian Paul Hetherington that they attest to a highly respected artist who lived and worked primarily in Rome but was esteemed enough to attract the patronage of the Neopolitan court.[3]
Much of what is known about Cavallini's artistic output comes from theLorenzo Ghiberti'sCommentaries, written nearly a century after the artist's death. TheFlorentine sculptor provides what he considered to be a praiseworthy list of works and affirms that Cavallini was regarded as exceptionally skilled artist in his own time.[citation needed]
His first notable works were the fresco cycles for theBasilica di San Paolo fuori le Mura, with stories from theNew andOld Testament (1277–1285). They were destroyed by the fire of 1823.
HisLast Judgment in the Church ofSanta Cecilia in Trastevere in Rome, painted c. 1293 and considered Cavallini's masterwork, demonstrates an artistic style known asRoman naturalism. This naturalism influenced the work of artists working in other Italian cities such asFlorence andSiena.
In theSienese school, the influence of classical Roman forms combined with theByzantine artistic heritage of the region and with northernGothic influences to form a naturalized painting style that was one of the origins ofInternational Gothic.
In Florence, the influence of classical Roman forms combined with the Byzantine artistic heritage of the region to spark an interest in volumetric, naturalistic paintings and statuary. This work is in stark contrast to the comparatively flat and ornamented Gothic, International Gothic, and Byzantine styles.
This naturalism is also evident in theBasilica of San Francesco d'Assisi inAssisi, built in the early years of the 13th century in honour of the newly canonizedSt. Francis. As the shrine was commissioned by the Roman church, its interior is painted in the Roman tradition. The identities of the artists at work in this church are for the most part not known but at least one team of artists came from Rome. Owing to the similarity of the work in San Francesco to that of Florentine artistGiotto, he was traditionally credited with some of thefrescoes, although most scholars no longer believe he was involved.
Giotto's work in theArena Chapel (also known as the Scrovegni Chapel) atPadua strongly shows the influence of stylized Roman naturalism in a newly individualized style which would come to characterize the work of Florentine Renaissance artists.
From 1308 Cavallini worked inNaples at the court of KingCharles II of Anjou, notably in the churches ofSan Domenico Maggiore (1308) andSanta Maria Donnaregina (1317), together with his fellow RomanFilippo Rusuti. He returned to Rome before 1325, beginning the external decoration of theBasilica di San Paolo fuori le Mura in 1321, with a series of Byzantine-style mosaics.
Cavallini's pupils includedGiovanni di Bartolommeo.
His works include:
The full text of"Cavallini, Pietro" in the 1911Encyclopædia Britannica at Wikisource