Artist

(b. 1548, San Marino di Valdelsa, d. 1612, Firenze)

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Details

Bernardino Poccetti (Bernardo Barbatelli), Italian painter and draughtsman. He was trained in Florence by Michele Tosini, a pupil of Ridolfo Ghirlandaio, and at 22 was admitted to the Compagnia di San Luca and later the Accademia del Disegno. His skill as a fresco painter of façades earned him the sobriquets 'Bernardino delle facciate', '...delle muse' and '...delle grottesche'. Surviving examples include the façade of the Palazzo di Bianca Capello, Florence. His six lunettes of the Life of St Dominic (c. 1582-84; Florence, S Maria Novella, Chiostro Grande) owe much to Andrea del Sarto for the clear compositions and individual figures and to the new emphasis on naturalism of Santi di Tito for the narrative simplicity. Poccetti's progress from small-scale sgraffito decorations to large-scale compositions was aided by drawings supplied by Alessandro Allori. The frescoes celebrating the Capponi family (1583-87; Florence, Palazzo Capponi, Sala Grande) refer to some of the 132 tapestry designs of Joannes Stradanus (e.g. Florence, Palazzo Vecchio) and to his engraved series of the Medicae familiae. Northern sources are also apparent in Poccetti's work. The lunettes of the Martyrdom of the Apostles (c. 1585-90; Florence, San Pier Maggiore, courtyard) show the influence of Lucas Cranach the Elder and Hendrik Goltzius. Albrecht Dürer's Small Woodcut Passion inspired the Calvary and Christ Nailed to the Cross (Florence, San Pier Maggiore, vestibule). //

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Category	Artists
Artists by letter	P
Artist nationality	Italian