DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61542#0210
170
BENOZZO GOZZOLI
[1420-
city—the Coliseum, Pantheon, Column of Trajan and
Pyramid of Cestus—but also the towers and battle-
ments, the loggias and campaniles of the modern
city into a single picture. Troops of cavaliers and
pages in rich brocades, leading gaily caparisoned
horses, escort the Saint on his journey, and fair
Milanese ladies, in contemporary costumes, sit under
Augustine’s pulpit, listening to his sermons, or
watch by the death-bed of Monica. Here and
there we find little bits of life reproduced with rare
felicity — young mothers with children clinging
fondly to their arms, girls carrying baskets, and
boys at play in the streets, or else a knot of friars
bending down and pressing their heads close to-
gether, eager to catch the new teacher’s words. The
last and finest of the whole series is the Death
of the Saint. Here, like most Quattrocento masters,
he takes Giotto’s Death of St. Francis, in Santa
Croce, for his model, and represents Augustine in
mitre and pontifical robes, lying on a rich mortuary
couch, surrounded by a large company of monks
and ecclesiastics, who perform the last rites and
give vent to their grief in the most passionate
manner. The variety of expression on the faces
of the mourners is very striking, while the grouping
of the figures and the graceful lines of the convent
buildings in the background make an admirable
picture. Unfortunately, Benozzo too often traded on
his reputation, and the numerous altar-pieces which
he painted for neighbouring churches and convents,
during the three years that he spent at San
Gimignano, are executed with a haste and careless-
ness that are quite unworthy of him. No doubt.
BENOZZO GOZZOLI
[1420-
city—the Coliseum, Pantheon, Column of Trajan and
Pyramid of Cestus—but also the towers and battle-
ments, the loggias and campaniles of the modern
city into a single picture. Troops of cavaliers and
pages in rich brocades, leading gaily caparisoned
horses, escort the Saint on his journey, and fair
Milanese ladies, in contemporary costumes, sit under
Augustine’s pulpit, listening to his sermons, or
watch by the death-bed of Monica. Here and
there we find little bits of life reproduced with rare
felicity — young mothers with children clinging
fondly to their arms, girls carrying baskets, and
boys at play in the streets, or else a knot of friars
bending down and pressing their heads close to-
gether, eager to catch the new teacher’s words. The
last and finest of the whole series is the Death
of the Saint. Here, like most Quattrocento masters,
he takes Giotto’s Death of St. Francis, in Santa
Croce, for his model, and represents Augustine in
mitre and pontifical robes, lying on a rich mortuary
couch, surrounded by a large company of monks
and ecclesiastics, who perform the last rites and
give vent to their grief in the most passionate
manner. The variety of expression on the faces
of the mourners is very striking, while the grouping
of the figures and the graceful lines of the convent
buildings in the background make an admirable
picture. Unfortunately, Benozzo too often traded on
his reputation, and the numerous altar-pieces which
he painted for neighbouring churches and convents,
during the three years that he spent at San
Gimignano, are executed with a haste and careless-
ness that are quite unworthy of him. No doubt.