Francesco Botticini's Palmieri Altar-Piece
1996; Burlington Magazine Publications; Volume: 138; Issue: 1118 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2044-9925
Autores Tópico(s)Historical Influence and Diplomacy
ResumoWilhelm von Bode's attribution to Francesco Botticini of the monumental Assumption of the Virgin in the National Gallery, London, with portraits of the kneeling donors Matteo Palmieri and his wife Niccolosa de' Serragli (Figs. 11 and 12) has found general acceptance.' It is usually dated close to 1475, the year of Palmieri's death. New documentary evidence establishes that Botticini was indeed the painter of the Assumption, that he worked on the picture between the first months of 1475 (at the latest) and 1477, and that he made contracts concerning it both with the humanist and with his widow. Vasari saw the picture in the church of the Benedictine nunnery of S. Pier Maggiore in Florence, and some of the arrangements Palmieri's heirs made for their chapel in this church can be traced. These records and Matteo Palmieri's hitherto unremarked will of 1469 help to expand the picture's context, although a recent suggestion that the Assumption was intended for a different location needs to be considered. Palmieri ran a profitable apothecary's shop, held high positions in government, composed important Floren- tine chronicles, and still found time to write the Citta di Vita, a lengthy poem modelled on the Divine Comedy, with a central idea that is literally unorthodox. The problem of the picture's relation to the poem has been much discussed, but needs to be raised afresh.
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