ALESSO BALDOVINETTI (1474)

Painter whose work, though seldom innovative, assimilated and proficiently exemplified the careful modelling of form and the accurate depiction of light characteristic of the most progressive style of Florentine painting during the last half of the 15th century. At the same time he contributed importantly to the fledgling art of lanscape painting.

He is presumed to have been an assistant to Domenico Veneziano, whose influence is reflected in the clear, pervasive light of his earliest survivin works: The Baptism of Christ, Marriage at Cana, and The Transfiguration (Museo di San Marco or Museo dell´Angelico, Florence).

He achieved his fully mature style in his masterpiece The Nativity (1460-62), a fresco in the church of S. Anunziata, Florence.

Although Baldovinetti´s technical experiments led to the fresco´s rapid decay, it shows the pale colurs, atmospheric light, and integration of detail with large-scale design that characterized most of his later works, such as Madonna and Child (1465, Louvre, París). Both The Nativiy and Madonna include views of the Arno River Valley and are among Europe´s earliest paintings of actual landscapes.

Baldovinetti also did two strips of mosaic decoration over Lorenzo Ghiberti´s doors on the Baptistery in Florence (1453-55) and a St. John the Baptist over the south doorway of Pisa Cathedral (1462).