Martino Da Verona

? – 1412

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 Serenissima to follow a project to close the Mincio. After an initial 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 Sal 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 Annunciation as their subject, depicted on the triumphal arch of San Zeno, in Santissima Trinit and in the left transept 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 Gallery), a triptych with the Madonna della Misericordia (Banca Popolare, Verona), a Nativity (Muse des Beaux-Arts, Strasbourg) and four polyptych panels with Stories of St Eligius (Museum of Art, Philadelphia; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; and unknown locations).

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