| Hebrew Prophets | 24 | Hebrew Prophets | Giovanni del Biondo | | | | | Museo de Arte de Ponce | Puerto Rico | | <p>Giovanni del Biondo’s precise date of birth is unknown. However, tax
records dating to 1356 indicate that the artist was working as a master
painter in Florence, where he spent the majority of his career. Numerous
paintings have been attributed to Biondo, but there are only two
surviving altarpieces that bear his signature. His earliest surviving
works are frescoes, with compositions that are clearly influenced by Giotto
di Bondone's style. Biondo then began to create tempera paintings on
panels, many of which show strong connections to works of Ambrogio
Lorenzetti, Andrea di Cione, Jacopo di Cione, and Bernardo Daddi. Nearly
all of Biondo’s paintings depict religious subjects and were originally
part of large-scale polyptych altarpieces. He is known for his precise
and careful working method and executing his paintings almost entirely
with his own hand (as opposed to the traditional practice of heavy reliance on
workshop apprentices).</p><p>Giovanni del Biondo’s early paintings are also characterized by bright colors and simple compositions and, frequently, little dimensional depth. Throughout the course of his career, Biondo's
figures exhibit more ornamentation and detail, appearing naturalistic
with more spontaneity in their arrangements.. In his later paintings,
Biondo pays more attention to foreground and background details in his
composition, giving a greater sense of depth to the compositions but
imparting a more formalized and hardened approach in depicting his
figures. </p> | <p>The <em>Hebrew Prophet</em>Â was completed circa 1370 and was originally part of <em>The Coronation of the Virgin</em>
high altarpiece in the Oratorio di San Lorenzo at San Giovanni Valdarno
in Arezzo, Tuscany. The central panel of the polyptych depicts <em>Christ Crowning the Virgin</em>, surrounded by cherubs and seraphim; the left wing shows <em>Saint John the Baptist</em>, patron
saint of San Giovanni Valdarno, in a frontal pose, and other religious
figures kneeling in diagonal rows facing towards the central panel.
Other religious figures include Saints John the Evangelist, Paul,
Peter, Abraham with his son Isaac, Noah, David, Saint James Major
Jerome, Augustine, Anthony Abbot, Mary Magdalen, and Catherine. The main
panel of the right wing shows Saint Lawrence, the patron saint of the
Oratorio di San Lorenzo, in a frontal pose, and other religious figures
kneeling in diagonal rows facing towards the central panel. These other
religious figures likely include Saints Stephen, Bartholomew, Sebastian,
Benedict, Andrew, Ambrose, Francis, Dominic, Margaret and Lucy. The
central pinnacle, above the central panel, shows <em>Christ on the Cross</em>,
the Virgin, Saint John, and two angels. Each wing has two pinnacles;
the inner pinnacles feature the Annunciation (the Virgin Annunciate on
the right and the Angel Annunciate on the left) and the outer pinnacles
feature Hebrew prophets. The outer pinnacle on the right wing is the <em>Hebrew Prophet </em>above and the focus of this reconstruction.</p><p>According
to archives at San Giovanni Valdarno, there are eighteenth-century
records suggesting that the polyptych was still intact above the altar until, by the first half of the nineteenth century, when the polyptych was
deconstructed and the individual panels were instead hung along the
church walls. In 1861, the panels were then moved to the sacristy of the
Oratorio di Santa Maria delle Grazie at San Giovanni Valdarno where a
small museum was eventually created in 1864. After the panels were
reassembled and restored around 1882, the polyptych was returned to its
original location in the Oratorio in 1920. Seven years later, the
four pinnacles above the wings were stolen and copies were made as
substitutions. During World War II, the polyptych was brought to Florence
and in 1950 was exhibited in Arezzo. By 1959 the polyptych was
transferred to the new Museo della Basilica at San Giovanni Valdarno and
later moved to the Basilica of Santa Maria delle Grazie at San Giovanni
Valdarno, where it hangs today. The non-original pinnacles
above the wings have since been removed.</p><p>The original
Annunciation panels (the inner pinnacles above the wings) were sold by
auction in New York as part of the collection of Conte Taddeo Pepoli
from Bologna in 1929 and were bought by the Detroit Institute of Arts in
Michigan. The original Hebrew prophet panels (the outer pinnacles above
the wings) were in the possession of Conte Contini Bonacossi in Rome in
1927 and entered the Samuel H. Kress Collection about two years later.
Both panels were transferred to the Museo de Arte de Ponce in Puerto
Rico in 1962 where they currently reside.<br></p><p>The two <em>Hebrew Prophet </em>panels
were cleaned in 1961 before they were transferred from the Kress
Collection in New York to the Museo de Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico.
Both panels are in good condition, with minor losses in the paint layer
and gilded backgrounds. </p> | <p>​<a href="http://www.artsbma.org/reconstructing-a-14th-century-painting/" target="_blank">Re-constructing a 14th-century Painting</a></p><p>Former
Kress Tempera Participant, Kristi McMillan, presents the Birmingham
Museum of Art with her experience of creating a copy of
Giovanni del Biondo's "Hebrew Saint."</p><p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/artists/-giovanni-del-biondo/paintings/slideshow#/0" target="_blank">Giovanni del Biondo's Paintings (by the BBC)</a></p><p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/artists/-giovanni-del-biondo/paintings/slideshow#/0"></a>A slideshow of Giovanni del Biondo's paintings organized by the BBC.</p> | <p>​Offner, Richard, Klara Steinweg, and Hayden B. J. Maginnis. <em>A Critical and Historical Corpus of Florentine Painting</em>, Sec. 4 V. 5. Institute of Fine Arts, New York University: New York, 1981.</p> | A step-by-step description of Giovanni del Biondo’s working method based on a technical study of two panels (now located at the Museo de Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico) that were originally part of a larger altarpiece constructed for the Oratorio di San Lorenzo in San Giovanni Valdarno, Italy. The techniques and materials outlined include the preparation of a panel support, sizing, gesso grosso, gesso sottile, gilding, punchwork, egg tempera painting, and mordant gilding. | |
