DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61542#0160
126
ANDREA DEL CASTAGNO
[1390-
Paolo Uccello and Donatello, by whom he was, it is
plain, strongly influenced. The traditional violence
and brutality of his temper certainly agree with the
character of his works. His types are coarse and un-
pleasant, his colouring hard and crude, but the accur-
acy of his drawing and the power and reality of his crea-
tions are undeniable. The bitterness of his spirit and
natural rudeness of his peasant nature was increased
by the hard struggles of his early years. In 1430, he
describes himself as having been laid up in a hospital
during the last four months, and as owning neither
home nor bed in Florence, his sole possession being a
small house, which he had inherited from his father,
in Vai Mugello. By degrees, however, his circum-
stances improved, and his talent obtained recognition.
In 1435, he was employed by the Signory to paint the
effigies of the Albizzi and Peruzzi, who were exiled as
rebels for plotting against Cosimo de’ Medici, on the
walls of the Podesta palace, and acquired the surname
of Andrea degli Impiccati—“ Andrea of the Gallows”—
from this circumstance. He was also employed to
design stained glass for the cupola, and to paint
cherubs and lilies on the organ of the Duomo. But
his chief work at this period was the decoration of a
hall in the Villa Pandolfini, at Legnaia, with full-length
figures of illustrious Florentines, as well as famous
Queens and Sibyls of ancient legend. This hall,
which Andrea further adorned with pilasters, friezes
of youth and festoons of flowers and fruit, in classical
style, and which as an example of Renaissance decora-
tion excited Albertini’s admiration, has long been de-
stroyed, but the portraits of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio,
Farinata degli Uberti, Niccold Acciaiuoli, the Grand
ANDREA DEL CASTAGNO
[1390-
Paolo Uccello and Donatello, by whom he was, it is
plain, strongly influenced. The traditional violence
and brutality of his temper certainly agree with the
character of his works. His types are coarse and un-
pleasant, his colouring hard and crude, but the accur-
acy of his drawing and the power and reality of his crea-
tions are undeniable. The bitterness of his spirit and
natural rudeness of his peasant nature was increased
by the hard struggles of his early years. In 1430, he
describes himself as having been laid up in a hospital
during the last four months, and as owning neither
home nor bed in Florence, his sole possession being a
small house, which he had inherited from his father,
in Vai Mugello. By degrees, however, his circum-
stances improved, and his talent obtained recognition.
In 1435, he was employed by the Signory to paint the
effigies of the Albizzi and Peruzzi, who were exiled as
rebels for plotting against Cosimo de’ Medici, on the
walls of the Podesta palace, and acquired the surname
of Andrea degli Impiccati—“ Andrea of the Gallows”—
from this circumstance. He was also employed to
design stained glass for the cupola, and to paint
cherubs and lilies on the organ of the Duomo. But
his chief work at this period was the decoration of a
hall in the Villa Pandolfini, at Legnaia, with full-length
figures of illustrious Florentines, as well as famous
Queens and Sibyls of ancient legend. This hall,
which Andrea further adorned with pilasters, friezes
of youth and festoons of flowers and fruit, in classical
style, and which as an example of Renaissance decora-
tion excited Albertini’s admiration, has long been de-
stroyed, but the portraits of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio,
Farinata degli Uberti, Niccold Acciaiuoli, the Grand