Early years Andrea del Castagno was born at
Castagno, a village near
Monte Falterona, not far from Florence. During the war between Florence and Milan, he lived in
Corella, returning to his home after its end. In 1440 he moved to Florence under the protection of
Bernadetto de' Medici. Here he painted the portraits of the citizens hanged after the
Battle of Anghiari on the facade of the Palazzo del Podestà, gaining the nickname of
Andrea degli Impiccati. Little is known about his training, though it has been hypothesised that he apprenticed under Fra
Filippo Lippi and
Paolo Uccello. In 1440–1441 he executed the fresco of the
Crucifixion with Saints in the
Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova, whose perspective-oriented construction and figures show the influence of Masaccio. In 1442 he was in
Venice where he executed frescoes in the San Tarasio Chapel of the church of
San Zaccaria. Later he also worked in
St Mark's Basilica, leaving a fresco of the
Death of the Virgin (1442–1443). Back in Florence, he designed a stained window depicting the
Deposition for the Duomo. On 30 May 1445 he became a member of the Guild of the Medicians. From the same year is the fresco of
Madonna and Child with Saints in the Contini Bonacossi Collection (
Uffizi).
The Last Supper '' of Sant'Apollonia In 1447 Castagno worked in the refectory of the Benedictine nuns at
Sant'Apollonia in Florence, painting, in the lower part, a fresco of the
Last Supper, accompanied above by other scenes portraying the Passion of Christ: the
Crucifixion,
Entombment, and
Resurrection, which are now damaged. This combination of scenes is not known to have been represented before. He also painted a lunette in the convent's cloister, depicting a
Pietà. Many important Florentine families had daughters in the convent at Sant'Apollonia, so painting there probably brought Andrea to their attention. The
Last Supper displays Andrea del Castagno's talents at their best. The detail and naturalism of this fresco show the ways in which he departed from earlier artistic styles. It is likely that
Leonardo da Vinci was already familiar with this work before he painted his own
Last Supper in a more dramatic form to contrast with the stillness of these works, so that more emotion would be displayed.
Late activity In 1449–1450 he painted the
Assumption with Saints Julian and Miniato for the main altar (in the Saint Julian Chapel) of the church of San Miniato fra le Torri in Florence (now in
Berlin). '' In the same years he collaborated with
Filippo Carducci to paint a series of
Illustrious People for the Villa Carducci at
Legnaia. These include
Pippo Spano,
Farinata degli Uberti,
Niccolò Acciaioli,
Dante Alighieri,
Petrarch,
Giovanni Boccaccio, the
Cumaean Sibyl,
Esther and
Tomyris. Also from around 1450 is the
Crucifixion in London, as well as the
David with the Head of Goliath and the
Portrait of a Man, both in Washington. Between January 1451 and September 1453 he completed the frescoes of
Scenes of the Life of the Virgin left unfinished by
Domenico Veneziano in the church of Sant'Egidio, Florence (now lost). In October Filippo Carducci commissioned him to paint frescoes for his villa at Soffiano, of which today an
Eve and a ruined
Madonna with Child survive. In 1455 Andrea del Castagno worked in the
Basilica della Santissima Annunziata (frescoes with the
Trinity with Saints Jerome, Paula and Eustochium and
Saint Julian and the Redeemer, the former showing a stressed realism). A
Crucifixion for Sant'Apollonia from those years is also attributed to him. In 1456 he executed the fresco of the
Equestrian Monument of Niccolò da Tolentino in the Duomo of Florence, paralleling
the similar painting by Paolo Uccello portraying Sir
John Hawkwood. ==Supposed murderer==