Arcagnuolo,[1] was the son of a very able Florentine goldsmith,
Maestro Cione, said to have been one of the principal artists who
worked on the magnificent silver frontal of the high altar of San
Giovanni, the Florentine Baptistery. The result of Orcagna's early
training in the use of the precious metals may be traced in the
extreme delicacy and refined detail of his principal works in
sculpture. He had at least three brothers who all practised some
branch of the fine arts: Lionardo or Nardo, the eldest, a painter;
Matteo, a sculptor and mosaicist; and Jacopo, also a painter. They
were frequently associated with Orcagna in his varied labours.
From the time of Giotto to the end of the 14th century Orcagna stands quite pre-eminent even among the many excellent artists of that time. In sculpture he was a pupil of Andrea Pisano; in painting, though indirectly, he was a disciple of Giotto. Few artists have practised with such success so many branches of the arts. Orcagna was not only a painter and sculptor, but also a worker in mosaic, an architect and a poet. His importance in the history of Italian art rests not merely on his numerous and beautiful productions, but also on his widespread influence, transmitted to his successors through a large and carefully-trained school of pupils. In style as a painter Orcagna comes midway between Giotto and Fra Angelico: he combined the dramatic force and realistic vigour of the earlier painter with the pure brilliant colour and refined unearthly beauty of Fra Angelico. His large fresco paintings are works of extreme decorative beauty and splendor—composed with careful reference to their architectural surroundings, arranged for the most part on one plane, without the strong foreshortening or effects of perspective with which the mural paintings of later masters are so often marred.
I. Orcagna as a Painter.—His chief works in fresco were at Florence, in the church of S Maria Novella. He first covered the walls of the retro-choir with scenes from the life of the Virgin. These, unfortunately, were much injured by damp very soon after their completion, and towards the end of the following century were replaced by other frescoes of the same subjects by Ghirlandaio, who, according to Vasari, made much use of Orcagna's motives and invention. Orcagna also painted three walls of the Strozzi chapel, at the north-east of the same church, with a grand series of frescoes, which still exist, though in a much injured and " restored " state. On the northern end wall is the Last Judgment, painted above and round the window, the light from which makes it difficult to see the picture. In the centre is Christ floating among clouds, surrounded by angels; below are kneeling figures of the Virgin and St John the Baptist, with the twelve apostles. Lower still are patriarchs, prophets and saints, with the resurrection of the blessed and the lost. The finest composition is that on the west wall, unbroken by any window. It represents paradise, with Christ and the Virgin enthroned in majesty among rows of brilliantly-coloured cherubim and seraphim tinged with rainbow-like rays of light. Below are long hnes of the heavenly hierarchy mingled with angel musicians; and lower still a crowd of saints floating on clouds. Many of these figures are of exquisite beauty especially the few that have escaped restoration. Faces of the most divine tenderness and delicacy occur among the female saints; the two central angels below the throne are figures of wonderful grace in pose and movement; and the whole picture, lighted by a soft luminous atmosphere, seems to glow with an unearthly gladness and peace. Opposite to this is the fresco attributed by Vasari to Orcagna's brother Bernardo, or rather Nardo (i.e. Lionardo); it was completely repainted in 1530, so that nothing but the design remains, full of horror and weird imagination. To some extent the painter has followed Dante's scheme of successive circles.
These paintings were probably executed soon after 1350, and in 1357 Orcagna painted one of his finest panel pictures, as a retable for the altar of the same chapel, where it still remains.
In the centre is Christ in majesty between kneeling figures of St Peter and St Thomas Aquinas, attended by angel musicians; on each side are standing figures of three other saints. It is a work of the greatest beauty both in colour and composition; it is painted with extreme miniature-like delicacy, and is on the whole very well preserved. This retable is signed, " An̄. dn̄i. mccclvii Andreas Cionis de Florentia me pinxit." Another fine altar-piece on panel by Orcagna, dated 1363, is preserved in the Cappella de' Medici, near the sacristy Sta Croce; it represents the four doctors of the Latin church. According to Vasari, Orcagna also painted some very fine frescoes in Sta Croce, similar in subjects to those attributed to him in the Campo Santo of Pisa, and full of fine portraits. These do not now exist. In the cathedral of Florence, on one of the northern piers, there hangs a nobly designed and highly finished picture on panel by Orcagna, representing S Zanobio enthroned, trampling under his feet Cruelty and Pride; at the sides are kneeling figures of SS Eugenius and Crescentius—the whole very rich in colour. The retable mentioned by Vasari as having been painted for the Florentine church of S Pietro Maggiore is now in the National Gallery of London. It is a richly decorative composition of the Coronation of the Virgin, between rows of saints, together with nine other subjects painted in miniature. Other paintings on panel by Orcagna were sent by the Pope to Avignon, but cannot now be traced. The frescoes also have been destroyed with which, according to Vasari, Orcagna decorated the façade of S Apollinare and the Cappella de' Cresci in the church of the Servi in Florence.[2]
2. Orcagna as a Sculptor and Architect.[3]—In 1355 Orcagna was appointed architect to the chapel of Or San Michele in Florence. This curiously-planned building, with a large upper room over the vaulting of the lower part, has been begun by Taddeo Gaddi as a thank-offering for the cessation of the plague of 1348. It took the place of an earlier oratory designed by Arnolfo del Cambio, and was the gift of the united trade-gilds of Florence. As to the building itself, it is impossible to say how much is due to Taddeo Gaddi and how much to Orcagna, but the great marble tabernacle was wholly by Orcagna. This, in its combined splendour of architectural design, sculptured reliefs and statuettes, and mosaic enrichments, is one of the most important and beautiful works of art which even rich Italy possesses. It combines an altar, a shrine, a reredos and a baldacchino. In general form it is perhaps the purest and most gracefully designed of all specimens of Italian Gothic. It is a tall structure of white marble, with vaulted canopy and richly decorated gables and pinnacles, reaching almost to the vaulted roof of the chapel. The detail is extremely delicate, and brilliant gem-like colour is given by lavish enrichment's of minute patterns in glass mosaic, inlaid in the white marble of the structure. It is put together with the greatest care and precision; Vasari especially notes the fact that the whole was put together without any cement, which might have stained the purity of the marble, all the parts being closely fitted together with bronze dowels. The spire-like summit of the tabernacle is surmounted by a figure of St Michael, and at a lower stage on the roof are statuettes of the apostles. The altar has a relief of Hope between panels with the Marriage of the Virgin and the Annunciation. On the right side, looking east, of the base of the tabernacle are reliefs of the Birth of the Virgin and her Presentation in the Temple; on the left, the Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi;
and behind, the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, and the
- ↑ Of this form, sometimes spelt Orcagnuolo, Orcagna is a corruption.
- ↑ The magnificence but much injured frescoes of the Last Judgment, Hell, and the Triumph of Death in the Pisan Carapo Santo, described with great minuteness and enthusiasm by Vasari, are attributed by him to Orcagna, but internal evidence seems to show that they are productions of the Sienese school. Crowe and Cavalcaselle attribute them to the two brothers Lorenzetti of Siena, but they have been so injured by wet, the settlement of the wall, and repeated re touchings that it is difficult to come to any clear decision as to their authorship. It appears, however, much more probable that they are the work of Bernardo Daddi.
- ↑ Orcagna was admitted as a member of the Sculptors' Gild in 1352. His name occurs in the roll as " Andreas Cionis vocatus Arcagnolus, pictor."
