Francesco di Antonio del Chierico

Francesco began his work as a goldsmith before turning to illuminating. No information has been uncovered about his family as a child or adult, or about how he began illuminating. Goldsmiths turned illuminists were very common at the time because goldsmiths were trained to create fine details in their work which translated well for illustrating tiny books. He was creative in the details he included in his work. For example, in Book of Hours of Lorenzo the Magnificent and Clarice Orsini he incorporates astrological symbols that correspond with each member of their family into his designs. This pleased the Medici so much that they hired him again to work on more books for them. Through Francesco's work it is also clear that he had at least some knowledge of ancient Roman works. In the fifteenth century, Roman works were popular, but only known to the public through descriptions and copies by famous artists. Only the best artists of the time were able to see the uncovered Roman works and less famous artists rarely got a chance. Nevertheless, it was very popular for artists to replicate the classics to the best of their abilities through descriptions of the Roman works. Francesco designed his floral arrangements and the many putti in a classical Roman way throughout his works. Putti are commonly shown in Renaissance art; they are depictions of small naked children or, more typically, cherubs. Francesco's boldness and creativeness is exemplified by the numerous putti, candelabras, and the use of a rare sketch watercolor technique. Francesco was also recorded to have been enrolled in the Compagnia di San Paolo in Florence which was one of the minor guilds for doctors and apothecaries. There was not a specific guild for artists so many relocated to the guild of doctors and apothecaries because it was common practice for artists to buy their pigment from the apothecaries. It was not until the 16th century that a guild specifically for artists was created. These guilds are important to history because most of them kept meticulous documents on who joined them and what art they created. Francesco was often compared to the Pollaiuolo brothers in terms of his artistic style. Antonio del Pollaiuolo was renowned for his skill in depicting the human figure and was one of the first artists to practice anatomical dissection. Pollaiuolo's style has been described as pure and sober, except for his female faces which are comparable to bright elegance of the madonnas created by Baldovinetti. Francesco and Antonio del Pollaiuolo's landscapes were very similar which can be seen in the composition of three Marys at the Tomb (E 204, fol. 2v), or in the Communion of the Apostles (fol. 169r). Piero del Pollaiuolo, the other brother, also has direct links to inspiring Francesco. In Francesco's Disputationes he represents his connection to Piero through a design on rug. The pattern on the rug is exactly the same as one Piero used in one of his work, but instead of a rug he had the pattern featured on a throne. Francesco was also compared by the art historian Annaroza Garzelli to Domenico Veneziano in terms of his luminosity. == Works ==

The books Francesco illustrated ranged in all sizes and covered varied literary, scientific, historical, and religious topics. He produced works for the book merchant Vespasiano da Bisticci, who in turn commissioned works for prominent court libraries outside of Florence, including for Ferdinand I of Naples, Louis XI of France, and Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary. Francesco's work for Matthias Cornvinus was displayed in Biblioteca Corviniana, the first great humanist library that was not located in Italy. In 1456, Francesco created his first piece for the Petrarch manuscript which was documented in the guild Compagnia di San Paolo. His productions for the Medici family began in 1457 when he illustrated the Exorcism of St Zeno in choir-books for Pistoia Cathedral commissioned by Bishop Donato Medici. He continued his employment by the Medici family when Piero de’ Medici commissioned him in 1458 to illustrate Pliny’s Natural History. He later illuminated Cosimo il Vecchio's choir-books of the Badia of Fiesole in 1461. In 1463, in collaboration with Zanobi Strozzi, he helped illuminate a choir-book for Cathedral of Florence, now in the Laurentian Library (Nos. 149, 150, 151). Strozzi was eleven years older than Francesco, but was also a pupil of Fra Angelico which is where the two artists met. Strozzi famously created the Madonna and Child with Four Angels today located in the Museum of San Marco in Florence. The collaboration with Francesco took eleven years and took the help of an entire workshop which included Cosimo Rosselli, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Attavante Attavanti and the Master of the Hamilton Xenophon. Francesco del Chierico worked on illustrating copies of Natural History by Pliny the Elder. The work is divided into 10 volumes and 37 books which cover everything the ancient Roman knew about natural sciences. Francesco illustrated Pliny twice in the books which are now located in Vienna and Naples. These author portraits of Pliny are especially of significance due to his attire. He chose to depict Pliny in his standard portrait face and dressed in typical fourteenth century clothing, to be specific the clothing of a professor. == Disputationes Camaldulenses ==

There is still controversy today over the painters of many miniaturists' work. Luisa Vertova, a contributor to The Robert Lehman Collection, V. Italian 15th to 17th Century Drawings, and Annarosa Garzelli have contradicting opinions on who illustrated the portrait of Federico da Montefeltro in the copy of the Disputationes camaldulenses (Camaldolese Disputations) (Urb. lat. 508, Biblioteca Apostolica, Vaticana) by Cristoforo Landino. Francesco illuminated parts of the manuscript including an image of Landino and the Glory of Christ, yet there is speculation as to if he is the true artist to a portrait of two men. There was also some lesser speculation that the work was by Francesco Roselli, a student of Di Antonio's. It is commonly accepted that Francesco did illuminate all the borders of the book. Further evidence that he created the double portrait is that the two men in it are standing behind what looks like a window. The window frames the two men and cuts them off at the waist with a rug hanging over the sill. This is the rug that was previously mentioned for having and identical pattern to that of Piero Pallaiuolo. It was common for Francesco to put architectural aspects, such as this one, into his works. Although there is controversy on the particular work, the majority of sources site Francesco di Antonio del Chierico as the artist. Later in Francesco's life it is speculated that he was the master of Francesco Rosselli due to their stylistic similarities. Rosselli was a Florentine native and twelve years Chierico's junior. Although there is little written documentation of his primary training, Rosselli and Francesco worked at the same time in Florence and Rosselli developed an artistic style like that of Francesco's. Rosselli would go on to illustrate the most important maps of the world at the time including one of the first full maps of the world after Christopher Columbus's discovery of the Americas. He was also said to have a great influence on relatively unknown artists such as the Master of the Decads and Bartolomeo di Domenico di Guido and on more popular artists, Attavante and the Master of the Hamilton Xenophon. Francesco is often cited as being one of the first artists to connect Naples to Florence. Many works help prove that ideas between artists were circulating from Naples to Florence and vice versa, often along with sketches. Francesco was clearly a key piece of this sharing of styles when, after illuminating the double portrait Ferdinando di Bologna the style of the double portrait, it began to show up all over Italy. ==References==