Niccolò di Pietro Gerini

Niccolò di Pietro Gerini
Niccolò di Pietro Gerini's signature is seen on a fresco in Florence that was completed in 1387.
Born	1340 Florence
Died	1414
Nationality	Italian
Known for	Painter

Niccolò di Pietro Gerini (c. 1340 – 1414) was an Italian painter of the late Gothic period, active mainly in his native Florence. Niccolo di Pietro Gerini's works can be found in major art galleries in Rome, the Vatican, Florence, London, Milan, New York City, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Berlin, Paris, St Petersburg, Boston, Cambridge, Budapest, Birmingham, Pelago, Prato, Pisa, Altenburg, Avignon, Denver, and several other museums.

Early life and family

Gerini's father, Pietro Geri, was registered as a member of the Guild of Saint Luke in 1339. In 1368, Niccolò Dipintore is identified as a member of the Arte dei Medici e Speziali Guild (Guild of Doctors and Apothecaries, which included painters until 1378) in Florence. Niccolo worked mainly in Florence, although he also carried out commissions in Rome at the Vatican, and in Pisa and Prato.

Another important artist, Lorenzo di Niccolò di Martino, trained in Niccolò di Pietro Gerini's workshop and later collaborated with him, but was not his son as is sometimes erroneously stated. Gerini did have a son named Bindo di Niccolo di Pietro Gerini, born in 1363, who was registered as a member of the Guild of Saint Luke in 1408.

Santa Felicita, Florence, Annunciation

Career

Gerini represents the school of Giotto di Bondone, in the tradition of Andrea di Orcagna and of Taddeo Gaddi. As is typical for Gothic depictions, Gerini's figures have large chins, sloping foreheads, and sharp noses whilst their bodies are squat and frontally displaced.

Gerini is recorded as collaborating with Jacopo di Cione on frescoes for the Guild hall of the Judges and Notaries in Florence in 1366. He is the Niccolaio Dipintore who worked with Jacopo di Cione on the altarpiece of the Coronation of the Virgin^[1] commissioned by the Albizzi family for San Pier Maggiore, Florence in 1370. He was paid 12 golden florins per disegnare la tavola dell’altare (for the design of the altarpiece) in November of the same year. In addition to the altarpiece, he designed the elaborate throne canopy, while Jacopo di Cione actually produced the piece.^[2]

He collaborated with Jacopo di Cione on a second Coronation of the Virgin (Accademia, Florence) in 1372. It was commissioned by the mint of Florence Zecca Vecchia that same year. In 1383 Gerini again worked with Cione on a fresco of the Annunciation in the Palazzo dei Priori, Volterra. This fresco clearly shows the work of two very different artists: Niccolò di Pietro Gerini (design and very fine painting) and Jacopo di Cione (broadly painted saints and side decoration).

In 1386 Niccolò frescoed the façade of the Loggia del Bigallo, Florence. He also frescoed the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio in Florence and executed a Crucifixion in the church of Santa Felicita, both in Florence. His hand can be also seen in the sacristy of the basilica of Santa Croce in the same city, depicting scenes from the life of Christ.

Between 1391 and 1392 he worked in Prato where he frescoed Palazzo Datini and the Church of San Francesco with Lorenzo di Niccolò and Agnolo Gaddi. He also frescoed the capitals of the church of San Francesco, Pisa.

Cappella Migliorati at the church of San Francesco, Prato

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Niccolò Gerini.

There is also a devotional theme painting by this Late Medieval Period painter in the Blanton Art Museum in Austin,Texas("Saint Bernard")There is also a devotional theme painting in the Fine Arts Center in Colorado Springs,Colorado by this painter("Madonna and Christ Child").