Margarito, Margaritone da Arezzo, or Margaritone d’Arezzo (fl. c. 1250–1290) was an Italian painter from Arezzo in Tuscany. Margaritone’s unquestionable name was Margarito, but it was transcribed erroneously by Vasari as “Margaritone”. It is by this latter form that he is nevertheless often known today.
Little is known of Margaritone’s life. The deserted documentary cassette of his existence dates from 1262, when he lived in Arezzo. However, a fair number of his works are known to survive. Unusually for the time, most are signed, but upon the by yourself one to be dated the date is “now fragmentary and variously entrйe as 1269, 1274, and 1283”. Given the want of steadfast dates, no chronology for his career has nevertheless been created. The best documentary evidence suggests he was full of life in the 1260s, but stylistically much of his accomplish suggests dates since 1250. Towards the decrease of his career he collaborated next Ristoro of Arezzo, also a miniaturist.
The birds and distribution of permanent works indicate that Margaritone was much in demand as an artist, both in Arezzo and throughout Tuscany. Most of these are dossals, either of the Madonna and Child, some taking into consideration smaller scenes to the sides, or of Saint Francis of Asissi. His treatment of the elements of these subjects is certainly consistent.
Unlike most contemporaries, he has a life in Giorgio Vasari’s The Lives of the Artists. Vasari, also from Arezzo, “devotes a good deal of flavor to him as an to the front painter from his house town”. However, much of Vasari’s instruction seems to be wrong: there is no evidence he was in addition to a sculptor, and a death in 1316 seems far-off too late.
What do you think of the works of Margaritone d’Arezzo?
Use the form below to say your opinion about Margaritone d’Arezzo. All opinions are welcome!