View of the Baroncelli Chapel from the north

1330 · Cappella Baroncelli, Santa Croce, Florence

religious

The naves of the Franciscan and Dominican Gothic churches in Italy were simple, compared to their northern equivalents, they were used mainly for preaching, but they were also built to be constantly adaptable, especially to the addition and decoration of private chapels where wealthy merchant families were commemorated.. Typical is the the basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, built by the Franciscan in 1296, with its slender, widely spaced piers and the Baroncelli Chapel, painted by Giotto's godson and pupil Taddeo Gaddi. Taddeo painted the chapel so as to capture the effects of actual southern light coming through the lancet window.

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View of the Baroncelli Chapel from the north

About the Artist

Taddeo Gaddi

1300 – 1366

Florentine painter, the son of a painter and mosaicist Gaddo Gaddi. According to Cennino Cennini, Taddeo was Giotto 's godson and worked with him for twenty-four years. In 1347 he headed a list of the best living painters compiled for the purpose of choosing a master to paint a new high altarpiece for Pistoia Cathedral. His best-known works were painted for Santa Croce, Florence: notably the frescoes devoted to the Life of the Virgin in the Baroncelli Chapel (finished 1338), and the panels illustrating the Life of Christ (c. 1330), originally meant for the doors of a sacristy cupboard and now scattered among museums in Florence (Accademia), Munich (Alte Pinakothek), and Berlin (Staatliche Museen). Many other panels are attributed to him and he must have had a flourishing workshop. Although transmitting the tradition of Giotto, his style is less heroic and more anecdotal. Gaddi's son Agnolo (active 1369-96) continued the Giotto tradition but modified it still further in the direction of decorative elegance.

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