TORRITI, JACOPO. - Painter and mosaicist, active in Rome at the end of the 13th century.
His certain works: the apse mosaic of the basilica of St. John Lateran, signed by him in 1291 together with his assistant Jacopo da Camerino; the mosaic of the apse of St. Mary Major, composed by T. in 1295. The first of the two works, following the alterations undergone by the Lateran Basilica, is but a pale reflection of the original composition, whereas the second, perfectly preserved, gives the measure of the painter's greatness and of the quality of his culture.
In the mosaic, which has at its center a roundel, surrounded by a flight of angels, in which the scene of the Coronation of the Virgin unfolds, the golden background is occupied at the top by the winding of acanthus scrolls while at the bottom figures of Saints are lined up. Nevertheless here and there appear, both in the scrolls and below, along the river, the images of a marvelous flora and fauna. In this too the composition has connections with the art of ancient Roman classicism, evoked by the plastic vigor with which the images are rendered and accentuated by the variation of the material of the tesserae. But no less effective in the typology and in the dazzling richness of the precious tints are the echoes of Byzantine modes, which appear quite clearly also in the iconography of the scenes with the events of the life of the Virgin that are in the band below the apse semidome. Not entirely convincing are the attributions of other works to T., whether in the same basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome (clipei of the transept), or in the upper basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, where certain compositions in the areas above Giotto's frescoes have been assigned to him. More probable is that of the clipeus with the image of the Redeemer placed high on the facade of St. John Lateran.
Bibliography3 works
Emilio Lavagnino