Seven Virtues

1450 · Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL

mythological

The two panels, depicting the Seven Virtue and the Seven Liberal Arts, were made to decorate the front panels of cassoni (wooden chests). Cassoni were often commissioned in pairs for weddings, one each for the bride and groom. They were decorated with themes that held didactic messages, particularly for the wife.

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About the Artist

Pesellino

1422 – 1457

Pesellino (Francesco di Stefano), Florentine painter who studied under his father Stefano di Francesco and inherited his studio workshop. His style combined elements from Fra Filippo Lippi, Masaccio and Fra Angelico. He appears to have worked with Lippi, who completed the altarpiece The Holy Trinity after Pesellino's death. Pesellino worked with Uccello on battle scenes for the Medici Palace, Florence, and also painted panels for cassone ('bridal chests'). 1453 Pesellino went into partnership with Piero di Lorenzo di Pratese (d 1487) and Zanobi di Migliore, and numerous replicas of popular Virgin and Child compositions by Pesellino were probably produced in this joint workshop for sale on the open market.

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