SCHIAVO, Paolo - b. 1397 Firenze, d. 1478 Pisa - WGA

SCHIAVO, Paolo

(b. 1397 Firenze, d. 1478 Pisa)

Italian painter, also known as Paolo di Stefano Badaloni. He enrolled in the Arte dei Medici e Speziali in Florence in 1429. According to Vasari, he was a follower of Masolino; this is confirmed by those works securely attributable to him, though they date from a later phase of his activity. They include a signed and dated fresco of the Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints (1436; Florence, San Miniato al Monte); a fresco of the Crucifixion Adored by Nuns (1447-48; Florence, convent of Sant’Apollonia), also signed and dated; a panel of the Assumption (1460) and frescoes of the Adoration of the Magi, the Annunciation and various saints (all Quarto, nr Florence, Santa Maria Assunta). Other frescoes include Stories of St Stephen (c. 1436-40; Collegiata, Castiglione Olona); frescoes in the left-hand chapel of the church of San Michele a Castellaccio di Sommaia, near Florence; and a signed Virgin and Child with Saints (Monte San Michele, Greve in Chianti). Two street tabernacles by Schiavo survive: the Tabernacolo delle Mozzette, near San Piero a Sieve, contains a Virgin and Child with Saints (c. 1437-38) while the Tabernacolo dell’Olmo at Castello, near Florence, bears an Annunciation and Saints (1447).

From 1420 until the mid-1430s Schiavo worked mostly on a small scale, as exemplified by the predella panels of the Visitation, Nativity, Adoration of the Magi (all Philadelphia, Museum of Art), an Annunciation (Berlin, Gemäldegalerie), an altarpiece with the Virgin and Child (Cambridge, Fitzwilliam) and the panel of Christ in the Garden and St Jerome in Penitence (Altenburg, Lindenau-Museum). This last shows a notable affinity with the work of Masaccio, whom Schiavo undoubtedly knew.

He was active in Florence and its territories as well as in Pisa, where he lived for a time. In January 1462 he painted a small altarpiece of the Virgin and Child with Saints (dispersed) for the nuns of San Domenico in that city. At this time he probably also painted a Christ on the Cross (Pisa, Museo Nazionale San Matteo). Schiavo’s stay in Pisa was not permanent however, as his various Florentine works dating from this period attest.

Schiavo was a versatile artist: he was also active as a manuscript illuminator and supplied cartoons for embroiderers. His considerable skill as a draughtsman can be seen in the sinopie discovered after several of his frescoes were detached (e.g. Virgin and saints on the façade of SS Apostoli, Florence). While the re-use of stock drawings both by Schiavo himself and by his busy workshop makes his paintings easily recognizable, it also complicates the question of chronology. The repetitive and stereotyped appearance of many of his works may also be attributed to this practice.

His son Marco was also a painter who lived and worked in Pisa.

Adoration of the Magi
Adoration of the Magi by

Adoration of the Magi

This is one of the four panels in the Philadelphia museum which formed the predella to an altarpiece, of which the main panels are in the Staatliche Museen in Berlin. In the centre was the Annunciation; on the left, St Jerome; and on the right, St Lawrence.

Seated on a draped throne, the Virgin holds the infant Jesus, whose foot is being kissed by the oldest of the three kings. Next to the throne Joseph leans on his walking stick. The other two kings stand, carrying golden receptacles. They are dressed as contemporary young men and wear crowns over typically Florentine hats known as mazzocchi. On the right is a groom with two horses.

Adoration of the Magi (detail)
Adoration of the Magi (detail) by

Adoration of the Magi (detail)

Adoration of the Magi.
Adoration of the Magi. by

Adoration of the Magi.

The picture shows the Adoration of the Magi on the entrance wall.

An Allegory of Love
An Allegory of Love by

An Allegory of Love

Long, horizontal panels such as this were painted to decorate the fronts of furniture chests, called cassoni. In early fifteenth-century Florence, cassoni were commonly commissioned in pairs on the occasion of patrician marriages as part of the bride’s trousseau. Their painted subjects were often drawn from classical mythology or history, usually allegories of love or chastity.

An Allegory of Love (detail)
An Allegory of Love (detail) by

An Allegory of Love (detail)

Long, horizontal panels such as this were painted to decorate the fronts of furniture chests, called cassoni. In early fifteenth-century Florence, cassoni were commonly commissioned in pairs on the occasion of patrician marriages as part of the bride’s trousseau. Their painted subjects were often drawn from classical mythology or history, usually allegories of love or chastity.

Annunciation and Saints
Annunciation and Saints by

Annunciation and Saints

The church of San Pio X al Sodo was built in reinforced concrete in 1964. It was dedicated to San Pio X (Giuseppe Sarto, pope from 1903 to 1914) and was consecrated in 1972. The sober interior of this modern church was lightened by the fresco of the Annunciation and Saints which was executed by Paolo Schiavo in 1447. The detached fresco with sinopia came from the nearby Tabernacolo dell’Olmo.

Crucifixion
Crucifixion by

Crucifixion

This 14th-century small church with a single nave and small circular apse in a tiny village in the Val d’Elsa presents the visitor in the choir by Paolo Schiavo.

Crucifixion
Crucifixion by

Crucifixion

This 14th-century small church with a single nave and small circular apse in a tiny village in the Val d’Elsa presents the visitor in the choir by Paolo Schiavo.

Crucifixion
Crucifixion by

Crucifixion

In addition to the famous Last Supper by Andrea del Castagno, the small museum also displays other fresco designs and works by Castagno, Neri di Bicci, Paolo Schiavo, and Raffaello da Montelupo.

Death of Mary
Death of Mary by

Death of Mary

This panel originally belonged to the predella of an altarpiece in the Oratorio della Madonna della Querce, Florence. It is a schematic late work by the artist. The signed and dated central panel of the altarpiece shows the Assumption of the Virgin (today Museo di Sant’Apollonia, Florence). The predella of the now dismembered altarpiece originally showed the three preceding scenes of the Virgin’s life: in the first picture, an angel announced to Mary her approaching death (lost); next came this scene showing the Virgin’s death; the third scene depicted the funeral of the Virgin (today Erzbisch�fliches Di�zesanmuseum, Cologne).

The representation of the death of Virgin is based on apocryphal sources and spread in Italy under the influence of Byzantine art. The Virgin lies in the centre in front of a row of candle-holding apostles and angels. Christ appears in the centre to take his mother’s soul shown in the form of a child. The characters fill the entire, narrow pictorial field, and are shown with little variation. The painter’s palette is limited to a few simple colours – red, green and yellow.

Flight into Egypt
Flight into Egypt by

Flight into Egypt

This is one of the four panels in the Philadelphia museum which formed the predella to an altarpiece, of which the main panels are in the Staatliche Museen in Berlin. In the centre was the Annunciation; on the left, St Jerome; and on the right, St Lawrence.

Joseph leads the ass that the Virgin and Child ride as two handmaidens, one with a bundle on her head, follow. As in the Visitation panel of the predella, golden rays emanate from the maidens’ heads. They are presumably the same attendants, but now they are barefoot and wear simple dress. As the group passes, a palm tree bows. This may refer to an incident recounted in the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew concerning a palm tree that bowed down to give its fruit to the Holy Family during a rest on their fight to Egypt. The palm frames the grotto in the hill where Christ was born. It is early morning and the sun has just risen, chasing light and clouds over the hills and faraway city. The attention given to the depiction of the landscape and the atmospheric effects suggests a close familiarity with the predella panel of the same subject in Gentile da Fabriano’s Adoration of the Magi, finished in May 1423.

Madonna Enthroned with Child between Two Angels
Madonna Enthroned with Child between Two Angels by

Madonna Enthroned with Child between Two Angels

Madonna della Cintola
Madonna della Cintola by

Madonna della Cintola

Madonna della Cintola (Madonna of the Girdle) depicts the Madonna giving her girdle to St Thomas.

Madonna della Cintola (detail)
Madonna della Cintola (detail) by

Madonna della Cintola (detail)

The detail shows the upper part of the painting.

Madonna della Cintola (detail)
Madonna della Cintola (detail) by

Madonna della Cintola (detail)

The detail shows the lower part of the painting.

Madonna with Child and Four Saints
Madonna with Child and Four Saints by

Madonna with Child and Four Saints

Nativity
Nativity by

Nativity

This is one of the four panels in the Philadelphia museum which formed the predella to an altarpiece, of which the main panels are in the Staatliche Museen in Berlin. In the centre was the Annunciation; on the left, St Jerome; and on the right, St Lawrence.

To the left the Virgin kneels in adoration of the baby Christ, and to the right Joseph sits, resting his head on his hand. A shepherd looks on from a rocky crag to the left. The rays of celestial light coming from the two angels, gold star, and baby contrast with the darkness of the night.

Procession of the Magi
Procession of the Magi by

Procession of the Magi

With an octagonal plan, a domed vault, reproducing Brunelleschi’s schemes, the oratory Madonna della Querce (Madonna of the Oaks) is preceded by a porch with remains of frescoes on the walls attributed to Paolo Schiavo.

The picture shows the Procession of the Magi on the entrance wall.

Scenes from the Infancy of Christ
Scenes from the Infancy of Christ by

Scenes from the Infancy of Christ

These panels formed the predella to an altarpiece, of which the main panels are in the Staatliche Museen in Berlin. In the centre was the Annunciation; on the left, St Jerome; and on the right, St Lawrence.

Tissue of the main altar (detail)
Tissue of the main altar (detail) by

Tissue of the main altar (detail)

The embroidered antependia with scenes from the life of the Virgin was made after the design of Paolo Schiavo.

Tissue of the main altar (detail)
Tissue of the main altar (detail) by

Tissue of the main altar (detail)

The embroidered antependia with scenes from the life of the Virgin was made after the design of Paolo Schiavo.

Triptych
Triptych by

Triptych

In the centre of the triptych is the Annunciation; on the left, St Jerome; and on the right, St Lawrence. Four predella panels to this altarpiece are in the Philadelphia Art Museum.

Visitation
Visitation by

Visitation

This is one of the four panels in the Philadelphia museum which formed the predella to an altarpiece, of which the main panels are in the Staatliche Museen in Berlin. In the centre was the Annunciation; on the left, St Jerome; and on the right, St Lawrence.

Elizabeth, mother of St John the Baptist, greets the Virgin, who is accompanied by two young maidens wearing contemporary attire. Unlike the other figures, who have halos, the maidens have golden rays emanating from their heads. Coming out of the stone gateway is Elizabeth’s companion, who, like her mistress, is veiled and wears a wimple. A white cat or small dog stands between the two principal figures.

Wall paintings (detail)
Wall paintings (detail) by

Wall paintings (detail)

With an octagonal plan, a domed vault, reproducing Brunelleschi’s schemes, the oratory Madonna della Querce (Madonna of the Oaks) is preceded by a porch with remains of frescoes on the walls attributed to Paolo Schiavo.

The picture shows the entrance wall with the Adoration of the Magi, and the Annunciation with a saint (perhaps St Giuliano).

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