Matthew of Giovanni (Matthew of Siena)

MATTHEW OF GIOVANNI (Matthew of Siena). - Painter, b. perhaps at Borgo Sansepolcro between 1428 and 1433; d. in June 1495.

The lack of works securely attributable to his youthful period (the first dated work is the altarpiece of the Servi, now in the gallery of Siena, which goes back to 1470) makes difficult the complete reconstruction of the evolution of his style, in which recollections of the late Sassetta, modules of Domenico di Bartolo, Umbrian elements perhaps derived from Bonfigli, are encountered, and where from as early as 1461-64, the presumed period of the Pienza altarpiece (now in the Museum, formerly in the Cathedral), the springing energy of Pollaiolo (Flagellation in the lunette) makes an imperious impression. Constant and personal elements of M., among so many external solicitations, are the unctuousness of the line, the clearly rounded forms, the composition spread out on the surface, despite the perspectival intentions of certain backgrounds, and above all the limpid, enameled and precious color. Such characteristics are evident both in the pleasing Madonnas, refined exemplars of a spellbound and nostalgic world - of which are recalled here, besides the aforementioned altarpieces of Pienza and Siena, the Assumption of London, that of Grosseto and the exquisite St. Barbara in S. Domenico of Siena (1478) - and in the celebrated Massacres of the Innocents, angular arabesques of contorted faces and springing limbs, which M. represented in the inlays of the floor of the Sienese Cathedral (1481) and repeated in several panels preserved at Siena (churches of S. Agostino, 1482 and of S. Maria dei Servi, 1491) and at Naples (Picture Gallery, 1488).

Amalia Mezzetti