MARTINO DA VERONA

Italian painter. The date of birth of Martino, son of Alberto and living in the district of Ponte della Pietra in Verona, is not known. He is commonly identified with the author who signed ("Opus Martini") the wall frescoes around the pulpit of the town church of San Fermo, made by the sculptor Antonio da Mestre in 1396 on commission of the Modenese jurist Barnaba Morano. It is believed that Martino is identifiable with the "Magistrum Martinum pictorem" who in October 1407 was chosen by the Municipality to accompany two engineers commissioned by the SerenissimaGLOSSARYAbbreviation of La Serenissima Repubblica Venezia, "the most serene republic of Venice"), term, in use since the Middle Ages, which describes the splendour and dignity of Venice and is, at the same time, an expression of Venetian self-confidence. to follow a project to close the Mincio.

After an initialGLOSSARYthe first letter of the text in medieval manuscripts and early printed books, made to stand out emphatically by its colour, size, and ornamentation. period strongly influenced by Altichiero da Zevio, he arrives at a conventional elegance, with somewhat stereotyped forms. His frescoes are preserved in churches in Verona (San Fermo, Sant'Anastasia, San Bartolomeo, San Giovanni in Valle, Santo Stefano). Some miniatures are also attributed to him (in Salò and elsewhere).

The reconstruction of Martino's artistic activity is mainly based on the frescoes in San Fermo. From this starting point, critics grouped together some frescoes attributed to Martino without precise dating. One group is centred on the group of the Virgin and Child; another group consists of three frescoes having the AnnunciationGLOSSARYthe term for the event described in the Gospel according to St. Luke, when the Angel Gabriel brings the Virgin Mary the news that she is to bear her son, Jesus Christ. The Annunciation was among the most widespread pictorial subjects of European art during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. as their subject, depicted on the triumphal archGLOSSARYIn the architecture of ancient Rome, a large and usually free-standing ceremonial archway built to celebrate a military victory. Often decorated with architectural features and relief sculptures, they usually consisted of a large archway flanked by two smaller ones. The triumphal archway was revived during the Renaissance, though usually as a feature of a building rather than as an independent structure. In Renaissance painting they appear as allusion to classical antiquity. of San Zeno, in Santissima Trinità and in the left transeptGLOSSARYsection of a church at right-angles to the nave and in front of the choir. of Santo Stefano.

Martino's production on wood includes eight panels with Stories of the Virgin and Christ's childhood and a Madonna and Child (Princeton, University Art GalleryGLOSSARYan upper story, similar to a tribune, running along the side of a building and open on one side to the interior; in a church (basilica) above the side aisles, over the ambulatory (central-plan building) and also over the west end. The gallery was used to keep certain groups of worshippers apart (women, noblemen).), a triptychGLOSSARYA painting in three sections, usually an altarpiece, consisting of a central panel and two outer panels, or wings. In many medieval triptychs the two outer wings were hinged so that could be closed over the center panel. Early triptychs were often portable. with the Madonna della Misericordia (Banca Popolare, Verona), a Nativity (Musée des Beaux-Arts, Strasbourg) and four 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. panels with Stories of St Eligius (Museum of Art, Philadelphia; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; and unknown locations).