LORENZO DI NICCOLÒ DI MARTINO

The first extant record of the artist shows that he was an associate of Niccolò di Pietro Gerini in 1392, when Gerini was working on the decoration of Francesco Datini's house in Prato. Lorenzo, often wrongly described as Gerini's son, was probably trained in his workshop, and the earliest works attributable to him have much in common with the older master's style. The commissions they completed together include the 1404 polyptychGLOSSARYA painting (usually an altarpiece) made up of a number of panels fastened together. Some polyptychs were very elaborate, the panels being housed in richly carved and decorated wooden frameworks. Duccio's "Maestà" (1308-1311) is a well-known example. for Santa Felicità in Florence, now in the Accademia.

From 1401 on, Lorenzo is recorded as an independent painter. He is documented as enrolling in the Arte dei Medici e Speziali in 1408 and in the Compagnia di San Luca in 1410.