Francesco Traini

Pisan painter. Only one work is certainly known to be by him: the signed polyptych of St Dominic and Scenes from his Life (Muso Nazionale, Pisa). The most important works attributed to him are frescoes in the Campo Santo in Pisa: the celebrated Triumph of Death, with accompanying scenes of the Last Judgment, Hell, and Legends of the Hermits. These, among the outstanding Italian paintings of the 14th century, were badly damaged by bombs in the Second World War, but this brought to light, by way of partial compensation, the beautiful "sinopie", which are now shown in the Museo delle Sinopie. The frescoes include many telling details of death's victims and are usually seen as a reflection of the horrors of the black death of 1348. However, since the essay by Luciano Bellosi in 1974 these frescoes are considered the work of Buonamico Buffalmacco.

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