DOI Heft:
Nr. 2
DOI Artikel:Frinta, Mojmír Svatopluk: A new work by Alvaro Pirez
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18861#0050
Such a background of stippled freely flowing foliagc appears in the Madonna of Humility in
Floren.ce and in the smali seated Madonna icilh SS. Peter and Francis in Dijon. This certaiuly
is not a standard feature in the Tuscan production but appears in the eastern littoral (Marche,
Abruzzo)1". The closest, however, are the stippled patterns in the background of Spanish painting
of the early fifteenth century (fig. 8)17. This poses again the question of the kind of relationship
of Alvaro with Iberian art. Does this feature in his supposedly later paintings, in which the
Pisań impact diminished, suggest a renewed contact, perhaps by AIvaro making a trip to Valencia
or Mallorca around 1430? Or should this be credited to his initial stage in Yalencia, tentatively
proposed above, that surfaced again after a period of an overwhelming impact of the new milieu
in Pisa?
Alvaro also made use of the ,,motif punches" in his haloes but not as an exclusive means of
their decoration which concept was first introduced by S. Martini and the Lorenzetti. Alvaro
only occasionally strikes his rosette or trefoil punches by four to from a cluster in the Sienese
fashion such as in the Yolterra altarpiece. Alvaro's punch repertory can be ascertained from his
signed worka (see the Chart). Two forms of tetra-rosettes are authenticated by their presence
in the Volterra altarpiece and add significantly to our contention of close Pisań contacts of
Alvaro because they copy closely those used by several Pisań painters (Francesco Traini and
Giovanni di Nicola, followed by Cecco di Piętro) (figs. 11-17). The ultimate source of these
shapes, though, must be sought in Sienese art18.
A tetra-rosette of the same size as Alvaro's (11 mm) appears in the halo of St. Nicholas, a fra-
gmentary panel which along with four more panels once forming an altarpiece, is in the Musee
de Cluny in Paris (fig. 10). This is of interest because C. Brandi attributed these panels to the
early period of Alvaro Pirez19. Archangel Michael, another of these panels, bears a certain simi-
larity to the female types of Alvaro as well as to his angels (figs. 1, 4, 9). The cjuestion of the
authorship is a difficult one because it is always tricky to argue for certain paintings as the
earliest works of a given painter; the artist's personal style might still not be crystalized at this
stage and the formative influence of his teacher, in this case pointing to the orbit of Turino Vanni
(and Bernardo Falconi?) might still be dominant. A lozenge punch in the Madonna's halo in
Paris points to Cecco de Piętro.
16. Zcri (,,Tre tavole") mentioned the decorative features of the Kress Madonna bv Gentilc da Fabriano in the National
Gallery of Art in Washington.
17. Of the Mallorcan examples may be mentioned a St. Gertrudis in the Diocesan Muscum and the rctablo of the Virgin in
the church of Montesion, both in Palma. This adornmcnt of the baekground became popular throughout Spain, e. g.,
a diptych in Cuellar (Castile). A. de Bosoue, op. cii., p. 48, 133 f, 139 f.
18. Frinta, „Radiation of Sienese Decorative Modes of the Trecento: An Investigation of Sonic Aspccts of Pisań, Florcnline,
Umbrian-Marchigian, and Catalan Painting", forthcoming in Anlichila Viva, 1976.
19. Cesare Brandi, „Relazioni storiche fra 1'Italia e il Portogallo", Reale Accademia d'Italia, Romc, 1940, p. 166 ff. E. Carli
assigned the panels to two painters by giving the Archangel Michael and the Madonna to Turino Vanni and the rest ^o
his „supposto Bernardo Falconi" (op. cii., figs. 117-119, 142). Only a spccific recording of the tetra-rosette can settle
the question if it is the same punch. As statcd above, the simpler punches such as the circular impressions of two sizes
and the smali tetra-dot have less weight as a conclusive evidence. I have not seen some other attributions mentioned
in the literaturę and, judging from the reproductions only, I would be inclined to accept some such as SS. Stephan and
Vincent in Bologna, Collezioni Comunali, once forming a pilaster adornment, but reject an Archangel Michael (also u
pilaster panel), ex Wildenstein because of different facial type (Zeri, ,,Qualchc appunto...", figs. 2-4).
42
Floren.ce and in the smali seated Madonna icilh SS. Peter and Francis in Dijon. This certaiuly
is not a standard feature in the Tuscan production but appears in the eastern littoral (Marche,
Abruzzo)1". The closest, however, are the stippled patterns in the background of Spanish painting
of the early fifteenth century (fig. 8)17. This poses again the question of the kind of relationship
of Alvaro with Iberian art. Does this feature in his supposedly later paintings, in which the
Pisań impact diminished, suggest a renewed contact, perhaps by AIvaro making a trip to Valencia
or Mallorca around 1430? Or should this be credited to his initial stage in Yalencia, tentatively
proposed above, that surfaced again after a period of an overwhelming impact of the new milieu
in Pisa?
Alvaro also made use of the ,,motif punches" in his haloes but not as an exclusive means of
their decoration which concept was first introduced by S. Martini and the Lorenzetti. Alvaro
only occasionally strikes his rosette or trefoil punches by four to from a cluster in the Sienese
fashion such as in the Yolterra altarpiece. Alvaro's punch repertory can be ascertained from his
signed worka (see the Chart). Two forms of tetra-rosettes are authenticated by their presence
in the Volterra altarpiece and add significantly to our contention of close Pisań contacts of
Alvaro because they copy closely those used by several Pisań painters (Francesco Traini and
Giovanni di Nicola, followed by Cecco di Piętro) (figs. 11-17). The ultimate source of these
shapes, though, must be sought in Sienese art18.
A tetra-rosette of the same size as Alvaro's (11 mm) appears in the halo of St. Nicholas, a fra-
gmentary panel which along with four more panels once forming an altarpiece, is in the Musee
de Cluny in Paris (fig. 10). This is of interest because C. Brandi attributed these panels to the
early period of Alvaro Pirez19. Archangel Michael, another of these panels, bears a certain simi-
larity to the female types of Alvaro as well as to his angels (figs. 1, 4, 9). The cjuestion of the
authorship is a difficult one because it is always tricky to argue for certain paintings as the
earliest works of a given painter; the artist's personal style might still not be crystalized at this
stage and the formative influence of his teacher, in this case pointing to the orbit of Turino Vanni
(and Bernardo Falconi?) might still be dominant. A lozenge punch in the Madonna's halo in
Paris points to Cecco de Piętro.
16. Zcri (,,Tre tavole") mentioned the decorative features of the Kress Madonna bv Gentilc da Fabriano in the National
Gallery of Art in Washington.
17. Of the Mallorcan examples may be mentioned a St. Gertrudis in the Diocesan Muscum and the rctablo of the Virgin in
the church of Montesion, both in Palma. This adornmcnt of the baekground became popular throughout Spain, e. g.,
a diptych in Cuellar (Castile). A. de Bosoue, op. cii., p. 48, 133 f, 139 f.
18. Frinta, „Radiation of Sienese Decorative Modes of the Trecento: An Investigation of Sonic Aspccts of Pisań, Florcnline,
Umbrian-Marchigian, and Catalan Painting", forthcoming in Anlichila Viva, 1976.
19. Cesare Brandi, „Relazioni storiche fra 1'Italia e il Portogallo", Reale Accademia d'Italia, Romc, 1940, p. 166 ff. E. Carli
assigned the panels to two painters by giving the Archangel Michael and the Madonna to Turino Vanni and the rest ^o
his „supposto Bernardo Falconi" (op. cii., figs. 117-119, 142). Only a spccific recording of the tetra-rosette can settle
the question if it is the same punch. As statcd above, the simpler punches such as the circular impressions of two sizes
and the smali tetra-dot have less weight as a conclusive evidence. I have not seen some other attributions mentioned
in the literaturę and, judging from the reproductions only, I would be inclined to accept some such as SS. Stephan and
Vincent in Bologna, Collezioni Comunali, once forming a pilaster adornment, but reject an Archangel Michael (also u
pilaster panel), ex Wildenstein because of different facial type (Zeri, ,,Qualchc appunto...", figs. 2-4).
42