MASO DI BANCO

It is assumed that this painting formed the central panel of a triptych, the side wings being the Death of the Virgin (Mus�e Cond�, Chantilly) and Coronation of the Virgin (Sz�pm�v�szeti M�zeum, Budapest).

The St Sylvester cycle begins in the lunette on the left (north) wall with Constantine’s refusal to bathe in the blood of the innocents to cure himself of leprosy.

This fresco is located behind the smaller tomb on the north wall of the Bardi di Vernio Chapel in Santa Croce, Florence. This tomb (the arcosolium, an arched recess used as a place of entombment) was for the female members of the patron family. The front wall with prophets was painted by Maso di Banco, the interior of the niche is attributed to Taddeo Gaddi.

The upper scenes on the south wall show the pope’s encounter with the emperor: Constantine recognizes the apostles Peter and Paul on the painting that Sylvester shows him, allows himself to be baptized, and recovers his health.

Beneath these scenes appears the Miracle of the Bull. In the dispute with the Jewish scribes over the true God before Constantine and his mother, Helena, one of the scribes, in order to demonstrate the power of his God, kills a wild bull simply by whispering a word in its ear. The witnesses are astounded by this, but Sylvester outdoes him by reviving the bull.

This panel depicts the Infant reaching for Mary’s neckline, preparatory to nursing. Mother and son exchange glances in direct, intimate fashion.

The panel formed the centre of an altarpiece with two half-length saints at each side (partly lost).

This relief is one of the six diamond-shape panels, representing the Seven Sacraments, in the upper register of the socle on the north side of the Campanile. (The missing sacrament, Holy Orders, has survived as only a small fragment.)

This relief is one of the six diamond-shape panels, representing the Seven Sacraments, in the upper register of the socle on the north side of the Campanile. (The missing sacrament, Holy Orders, has survived as only a small fragment.)

This relief is one of the six diamond-shape panels, representing the Seven Sacraments, in the upper register of the socle on the north side of the Campanile. (The missing sacrament, Holy Orders, has survived as only a small fragment.)

This relief is one of the six diamond-shape panels, representing the Seven Sacraments, in the upper register of the socle on the north side of the Campanile. (The missing sacrament, Holy Orders, has survived as only a small fragment.)

This relief is one of the six diamond-shape panels, representing the Seven Sacraments, in the upper register of the socle on the north side of the Campanile. (The missing sacrament, Holy Orders, has survived as only a small fragment.)

This relief is one of the six diamond-shape panels, representing the Seven Sacraments, in the upper register of the socle on the north side of the Campanile. (The missing sacrament, Holy Orders, has survived as only a small fragment.)

This fresco is located behind the larger tomb on the north wall of the Bardi di Vernio Chapel. This tomb was for the male members of the patron family. The motifs of the fresco derive from the iconography of the Last Judgment. The barren mountain landscape should be read as the Valley of Josaphat, the site of the judgment and the half-length figure as a man being raised from the grave.

This fresco on the north wall, middle right, shows the emperor’s dream in which Sts Peter and Paul appear to advise him to send for Pope Sylvester, as he was the only one who could cure him of his condition.

Sylvester revives the bull, killed by one of the scribes.

The scene at the bottom of the south wall shows the Miracle of the Dragon. Of the scenes in the chapel, this is the most often discussed.

Two men were killed at the Roman Forum by the breath of a dragon, here read as the symbol of religious ignorance. Sylvester closed the dragon’s throat so it would cause no further harm and he then revived the victims, much to the amazement of onlookers. In the fresco, the Roman Forum is rendered not as it looked in the fourth century when the scene occurred, but in its ruinous state of the 14th century when Maso painted it. The unoccupied buildings in the background, the dilapidated, cracked walls in which grass is growing and the marble rubble in front of the dragon’s cave give visual expression to the decline of the ancient world. The fragment of a pier arcade and the one standing column nevertheless serve to remind us of the greatness and beauty of its architecture.

The scene at the bottom of the south wall shows the Miracle of the Dragon. Of the scenes in the chapel, this is the most often discussed.

The scene of the “dragon miracle” takes place in Rome beetween the ruins of the Forum Romanum. The deep space is divided into three parts. On the left the Pope puts the dragon on chains then he turns toward the dead Magi and raises them from the dead. Emperor Constantine and his accompaniment occupy the right side of the scene in astonishment. The scene is narrative and not dramatic lacking the lively colours and monumentality of Giotto. However, the construction of the composition is remarkable.

In the left part of the scene, Sylvester closes the dragon’s throat so it would cause no further harm.

The Pope puts the dragon on chains then he turns toward the dead Magi and raises them from the dead.

In the right part of the scene, Sylvester revives two victims of the dragon, much to the amazement of onlookers.

The Bardi di Vernio Chapel in Santa Croce is one of the ten that were built at the same time as the transept between 1295 and 1310. It is located in the northern arm of the transept. The chapel was frescoed c. 1335 by Maso di Banco, one of Giotto’s pupils and followers. Patronage of this chapel was not transferred to the Bardi di Vernio until 1602. In the fourteenth century it was the Bardi di Mangona, a branch of the family named after the Castello di Mangona near Florence, who were its patrons.

In the upper part of the left (north) wall the St Sylvester cycle of Maso di Banco can be found. The two tomb monuments are unusually elaborated for family chapels of this period. The larger of the two, whose sarcophagus and marble baldachin were later added to the niche decorated by Maso, was for the male member of the family, the smaller one (the arcosolium, an arched recess used as a place of entombment) for the female members. Maso painted only the front wall of the latter, the interior of the niche is attributed to Taddeo Gaddi.

On the fresco a male member of the Bardi family kneels on his sarcophagus, quite alone on the desolate plain of the afterlife. His sarcophagus is decorated with marble reliefs of the Man of Sorrows and the Bardi arms, while the image of Christ as a judge, displaying his wounds and surrounded by angels is painted in fresco on the wall above.