Artist

(b. 1412, Firenze, d. 1459, Firenze)

---

Details

Giovanni di Francesco del Cervelliera da Rovezzano, Italian painter. His date of birth is deduced from an entry in the catasto (land registry declaration) of 1435, in which the artist gave his age as 23. Toesca first identified Giovanni di Francesco as the author of a group of works previously attributed to the Master of the Carrand Triptych, who was named after the triptych formerly in the Carrand collection, of the Virgin and Child with Sts Francis, John the Baptist, Nicholas and Peter (Florence, Museo Nazionale del Bargello), from San Niccolò, Florence. The scenes from the Life of St Nicholas (Florence, Casa Buonarroti) probably formed the predella. The identification was based on a document relating to a payment for the fresco of God the Father with the Holy Innocents over the door of the church of the Ospedale degli Innocenti, Florence (1458-59; in situ). In 1439, Giovanni was employed by his uncle Giuliano di Jacopo in one of the busiest workshops, but it is far from certain that he remained in his uncle's workshop for any length of time, as there are documents associating Giovanni di Francesco with Filippo Lippi in 1440 and 1442. He died in 1459. Giovanni di Francesco's accepted corpus is marked by an elegant but taut draftsmanship, brilliant colour, and a mastery of perspectival composition. His primary debt is to Andrea del Castagno, Domenico Veneziano, and Piero della Francesca. //

---

Category	Artists
Artists by letter	G
Artist nationality	Italian