Allegretto Nuzi

Allegretto di Nuzio
Allegretto di Nuzi

Umbrian, active from c. 1340; died 1373

The artist probably was born in Fabriano, in the Marches; indeed, he signed his name on various occasions as Allegritus de Fabriano. The artist is documented for the first time in Florence in 1346, when he enrolled in the Compagnia di San Luca, the lay confraternity of painters. His name, written as “Allegrettus Nuccii de Senis,” also appears in the register of foreign members of the Arte dei Medici e Speziali in Florence, a guild that also comprised painters.[1] The claimed Sienese origin can probably be explained by the supposition that Allegretto had arrived in Florence after a period in Siena. Local sources in Fabriano record the presence of his works, dated respectively 1345 and 1349, in the church of Santa Lucia at Fabriano,[2] but the reliability of this information cannot now be corroborated, since the paintings in question have been lost. Amico Ricci (1834) identified the former with a panel of the Madonna and Child Enthroned with eight angels formerly in the collection of the Viscountess D’Abernon in London, a proposal accepted by the editors of the last edition of Bernard Berenson’s Italian Pictures (1968),[3] but this claim cannot be verified since the panel’s inscription is now illegible.

The painter’s first securely dated work remains the left lateral of the Washington triptych, executed (according to the inscription below the central panel) in 1354. But perhaps a street tabernacle with a fresco of the Madonna and Child with two saints and two angels, formerly on the Via di San Filippo in Fabriano and now in the Pinacoteca Civica in that town, also dates to the same year: its inscription is now lost, and the date reported by local sources has been incorrectly transcribed. These works were followed in chronological order by the much-ruined Madonna formerly in the Sabatucci collection in Fabriano (1358); the triptych in the Pinacoteca Vaticana (1365); the polyptych in the Palazzo Municipale in Apiro (Macerata) and the Madonna of Humility in the Pinacoteca at San Severino Marche, both dated 1366; the triptych in the cathedral of Macerata (1369); and the Madonna and Child Enthroned in the Galleria Nazionale in Urbino (1372).

The initial phase of the painter’s career can be reconstructed on the basis of some works in which the Florentine stylistic component, essentially derived from Maso di Banco, is fused with elements that reveal the artist’s familiarity with the art of the Sienese Lorenzetti brothers, such as the polyptych of the J. G. Johnson collection in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the D’Abernon Madonna, the portable triptych in the Kunstmuseum in Bern, and the Crucifixion in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond. Documented back in Fabriano again in 1348 and 1350,[4] Allegretto probably resumed his contacts with Florence in the 1350s, more particularly with the thriving shop of Andrea Orcagna. But at this time he also seems to have formed a professional association with Puccio di Simone, with whom he would later work in Fabriano. In the 1350s, Allegretto probably painted the five-part Madonna and Saints in the Pinacoteca of Fabriano; the diptych in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin and that of the Madonna and Child and Vir dolorum, now divided between private collections;[5] as well as a large part of the frescoes in the cathedral and church of Santa Lucia in Fabriano. A gradual stiffening of his compositional schemes, metallic hardness of modeling, and ever more frequent use of sumptuous fabrics with striking decorative motifs in his paintings characterize the final phase of the artist, who died at Fabriano between September and November 1373.

[1] See Ugo Procacci, “Il primo ricordo di Giovanni da Milano a Firenze,” Arte antica e moderna 13 – 16 (1961): 65. The name of the painter also appears, but without a date, in a register begun in 1343 of members of a confraternity in Fabriano. See Stefano Felicetti, “Regesti documentari, 1299 – 1499,” in Il maestro di Campo­donico: Rapporti artistici fra Umbria e Marche nel Trecento, ed. Fabio Marcelli (Fabriano, 1998), 215.

[2] Amico Ricci, Memorie storiche delle arti e degli artisti della Marca di Ancona, 2 vols. (Macerata, 1834), 1:88, 109 n. 49.

[3] Bernard Berenson, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: Central Italian and North Italian Schools, 3 vols. (London, 1968), 2: fig. 206. I suspect that the dated paintings formerly to be seen in the choir of the church of Santa Lucia, which Ricci said were lost following the transformation of the church, were probably frescoes.

[4] See Stefano Felicetti, “Regesti documentari, 1299 – 1499,” in Il maestro di Campodonico: Rapporti artistici fra Umbria e Marche nel Trecento, ed. Fabio Marcelli (Fabriano, 1998), 215.

[5] See Angelo Tartuferi, in Da Allegretto Nuzi a Pietro Perugino, ed. Fabrizio Moretti and Gabriele Caioni (Florence, 2005), 26 – 37.

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This altarpiece is made up of three panels, with a single man standing in each of the narrow wings to the left and right and a wider panel at the center, which shows a woman holding a baby as twenty-two people look on. The background behind all the people is gold, and the top of each panel comes to a rounded, pointed arch under a second taller, sharper point. Spiraling columns frame the left and right sides, and rows of semicircular shapes, like inverted scallops, run inside the curving arches. In the central panel, the woman, child, and people around them all have pale skin and blond hair except for two elderly men with gray hair and beards. They all have plate-like gold halos that overlap, sometimes obscuring the face of another person. The woman and child, Mary and Jesus, sit on an unseen chair on two wide steps. They gaze at each other while Mary gently touches Jesus’s chin. Her lapis-blue mantle covers her hair and wraps around her body. The robe is edged with gold and has gold starbursts on one shoulder and on the crown of her head. Jesus’s garment is patterned with blue and gold against a dark orange background, and it wraps around his lower body. He holds a bird in one hand, touches Mary’s robe with the other, and a piece of coral hangs from a cord around his neck. Most of the people on each side wear azure-blue, pale peach, or brick-red garments decorated with gold. There are three inscriptions in this central panel. Mary’s halo is inscribed with “SCA MARIA MATER DEI” and Jesus’s halo reads, “IIS XRO M.” A third inscription across the bottom of the panel is partially damaged, but some of it reads, “LIIII QUESTA TA ATTA FRE FRATE GIOVANNI DA.” In the wing to our left, a balding, bearded man wearing a brown cloak over a black robe stands facing our right almost in profile. His pale skin has a dark, ash-gray cast. The hood of the black robe lies across his shoulders. He holds a wooden crutch with a curved top in the hand closer to us, and holds up his other hand with his palm facing us, fingers slightly curled in. A halo around his head is incised into the gold background and is filled with letters reading, “SaS ANTONIVS O VIENA.” Nearly lost against his dark robes, a black boar or pig stands near his feet. The floor here and in the right panel have a brocade-like pattern with three-lobed, gold designs against a field of brick red. The right wing is filled by a blond, cleanshaven young man standing facing our left as he looks toward Mary and Jesus in the center. He wears a long orange tunic decorated with blue flowers, and has a peacock-blue cloak and matching boots. Flags patterned with gold against black or red backgrounds flutter from a staff he holds with his right hand, farther from us. His other hand rests on the gold belt at his waist. His inscribed halo reads, “SCS. VENANCIVS MRTIRI.” The three panels are separated by spiraling gold columns and topped with triangular gables. The gables are filled with stylized leaves and animals in muted shades of brown against a black background. Near the pointed tops of the panels, the side wings have three-lobed shapes filled with a winged angel on the left and a person with a halo holding a hand to the chest on the right. The central gable has a four-lobed shape showing a man hanging on a cross.
Puccio di Simone, Allegretto Nuzi, Saint Anthony Abbot [left panel], 1354, tempera on panel, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.6.a

Saint Anthony Abbot [left panel]

Puccio di Simone, Allegretto Nuzi · 1354 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1937.1.6.a

This altarpiece is made up of three panels, with a single man standing in each of the narrow wings to the left and right and a wider panel at the center, which shows a woman holding a baby as twenty-two people look on. The background behind all the people is gold, and the top of each panel comes to a rounded, pointed arch under a second taller, sharper point. Spiraling columns frame the left and right sides, and rows of semicircular shapes, like inverted scallops, run inside the curving arches. In the central panel, the woman, child, and people around them all have pale skin and blond hair except for two elderly men with gray hair and beards. They all have plate-like gold halos that overlap, sometimes obscuring the face of another person. The woman and child, Mary and Jesus, sit on an unseen chair on two wide steps. They gaze at each other while Mary gently touches Jesus’s chin. Her lapis-blue mantle covers her hair and wraps around her body. The robe is edged with gold and has gold starbursts on one shoulder and on the crown of her head. Jesus’s garment is patterned with blue and gold against a dark orange background, and it wraps around his lower body. He holds a bird in one hand, touches Mary’s robe with the other, and a piece of coral hangs from a cord around his neck. Most of the people on each side wear azure-blue, pale peach, or brick-red garments decorated with gold. There are three inscriptions in this central panel. Mary’s halo is inscribed with “SCA MARIA MATER DEI” and Jesus’s halo reads, “IIS XRO M.” A third inscription across the bottom of the panel is partially damaged, but some of it reads, “LIIII QUESTA TA ATTA FRE FRATE GIOVANNI DA.” In the wing to our left, a balding, bearded man wearing a brown cloak over a black robe stands facing our right almost in profile. His pale skin has a dark, ash-gray cast. The hood of the black robe lies across his shoulders. He holds a wooden crutch with a curved top in the hand closer to us, and holds up his other hand with his palm facing us, fingers slightly curled in. A halo around his head is incised into the gold background and is filled with letters reading, “SaS ANTONIVS O VIENA.” Nearly lost against his dark robes, a black boar or pig stands near his feet. The floor here and in the right panel have a brocade-like pattern with three-lobed, gold designs against a field of brick red. The right wing is filled by a blond, cleanshaven young man standing facing our left as he looks toward Mary and Jesus in the center. He wears a long orange tunic decorated with blue flowers, and has a peacock-blue cloak and matching boots. Flags patterned with gold against black or red backgrounds flutter from a staff he holds with his right hand, farther from us. His other hand rests on the gold belt at his waist. His inscribed halo reads, “SCS. VENANCIVS MRTIRI.” The three panels are separated by spiraling gold columns and topped with triangular gables. The gables are filled with stylized leaves and animals in muted shades of brown against a black background. Near the pointed tops of the panels, the side wings have three-lobed shapes filled with a winged angel on the left and a person with a halo holding a hand to the chest on the right. The central gable has a four-lobed shape showing a man hanging on a cross.
Puccio di Simone, Allegretto Nuzi, Madonna and Child Enthroned with Four Saints and Eighteen Angels [middle panel], 1354, tempera on panel, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.6.b

Madonna and Child Enthroned with Four Saints and Eighteen Angels [middle panel]

Puccio di Simone, Allegretto Nuzi · 1354 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1937.1.6.b

This altarpiece is made up of three panels, with a single man standing in each of the narrow wings to the left and right and a wider panel at the center, which shows a woman holding a baby as twenty-two people look on. The background behind all the people is gold, and the top of each panel comes to a rounded, pointed arch under a second taller, sharper point. Spiraling columns frame the left and right sides, and rows of semicircular shapes, like inverted scallops, run inside the curving arches. In the central panel, the woman, child, and people around them all have pale skin and blond hair except for two elderly men with gray hair and beards. They all have plate-like gold halos that overlap, sometimes obscuring the face of another person. The woman and child, Mary and Jesus, sit on an unseen chair on two wide steps. They gaze at each other while Mary gently touches Jesus’s chin. Her lapis-blue mantle covers her hair and wraps around her body. The robe is edged with gold and has gold starbursts on one shoulder and on the crown of her head. Jesus’s garment is patterned with blue and gold against a dark orange background, and it wraps around his lower body. He holds a bird in one hand, touches Mary’s robe with the other, and a piece of coral hangs from a cord around his neck. Most of the people on each side wear azure-blue, pale peach, or brick-red garments decorated with gold. There are three inscriptions in this central panel. Mary’s halo is inscribed with “SCA MARIA MATER DEI” and Jesus’s halo reads, “IIS XRO M.” A third inscription across the bottom of the panel is partially damaged, but some of it reads, “LIIII QUESTA TA ATTA FRE FRATE GIOVANNI DA.” In the wing to our left, a balding, bearded man wearing a brown cloak over a black robe stands facing our right almost in profile. His pale skin has a dark, ash-gray cast. The hood of the black robe lies across his shoulders. He holds a wooden crutch with a curved top in the hand closer to us, and holds up his other hand with his palm facing us, fingers slightly curled in. A halo around his head is incised into the gold background and is filled with letters reading, “SaS ANTONIVS O VIENA.” Nearly lost against his dark robes, a black boar or pig stands near his feet. The floor here and in the right panel have a brocade-like pattern with three-lobed, gold designs against a field of brick red. The right wing is filled by a blond, cleanshaven young man standing facing our left as he looks toward Mary and Jesus in the center. He wears a long orange tunic decorated with blue flowers, and has a peacock-blue cloak and matching boots. Flags patterned with gold against black or red backgrounds flutter from a staff he holds with his right hand, farther from us. His other hand rests on the gold belt at his waist. His inscribed halo reads, “SCS. VENANCIVS MRTIRI.” The three panels are separated by spiraling gold columns and topped with triangular gables. The gables are filled with stylized leaves and animals in muted shades of brown against a black background. Near the pointed tops of the panels, the side wings have three-lobed shapes filled with a winged angel on the left and a person with a halo holding a hand to the chest on the right. The central gable has a four-lobed shape showing a man hanging on a cross.
Puccio di Simone, Allegretto Nuzi, Saint Venantius [right panel], 1354, tempera on panel, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.6.c

Saint Venantius [right panel]

Puccio di Simone, Allegretto Nuzi · 1354 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1937.1.6.c

This altarpiece is made up of three panels, with a single man standing in each of the narrow wings to the left and right and a wider panel at the center, which shows a woman holding a baby as twenty-two people look on. The background behind all the people is gold, and the top of each panel comes to a rounded, pointed arch under a second taller, sharper point. Spiraling columns frame the left and right sides, and rows of semicircular shapes, like inverted scallops, run inside the curving arches. In the central panel, the woman, child, and people around them all have pale skin and blond hair except for two elderly men with gray hair and beards. They all have plate-like gold halos that overlap, sometimes obscuring the face of another person. The woman and child, Mary and Jesus, sit on an unseen chair on two wide steps. They gaze at each other while Mary gently touches Jesus’s chin. Her lapis-blue mantle covers her hair and wraps around her body. The robe is edged with gold and has gold starbursts on one shoulder and on the crown of her head. Jesus’s garment is patterned with blue and gold against a dark orange background, and it wraps around his lower body. He holds a bird in one hand, touches Mary’s robe with the other, and a piece of coral hangs from a cord around his neck. Most of the people on each side wear azure-blue, pale peach, or brick-red garments decorated with gold. There are three inscriptions in this central panel. Mary’s halo is inscribed with “SCA MARIA MATER DEI” and Jesus’s halo reads, “IIS XRO M.” A third inscription across the bottom of the panel is partially damaged, but some of it reads, “LIIII QUESTA TA ATTA FRE FRATE GIOVANNI DA.” In the wing to our left, a balding, bearded man wearing a brown cloak over a black robe stands facing our right almost in profile. His pale skin has a dark, ash-gray cast. The hood of the black robe lies across his shoulders. He holds a wooden crutch with a curved top in the hand closer to us, and holds up his other hand with his palm facing us, fingers slightly curled in. A halo around his head is incised into the gold background and is filled with letters reading, “SaS ANTONIVS O VIENA.” Nearly lost against his dark robes, a black boar or pig stands near his feet. The floor here and in the right panel have a brocade-like pattern with three-lobed, gold designs against a field of brick red. The right wing is filled by a blond, cleanshaven young man standing facing our left as he looks toward Mary and Jesus in the center. He wears a long orange tunic decorated with blue flowers, and has a peacock-blue cloak and matching boots. Flags patterned with gold against black or red backgrounds flutter from a staff he holds with his right hand, farther from us. His other hand rests on the gold belt at his waist. His inscribed halo reads, “SCS. VENANCIVS MRTIRI.” The three panels are separated by spiraling gold columns and topped with triangular gables. The gables are filled with stylized leaves and animals in muted shades of brown against a black background. Near the pointed tops of the panels, the side wings have three-lobed shapes filled with a winged angel on the left and a person with a halo holding a hand to the chest on the right. The central gable has a four-lobed shape showing a man hanging on a cross.
Puccio di Simone, Allegretto Nuzi, Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints and Angels, and Saints Anthony Abbot and Venantius [entire triptych], 1354, tempera on panel, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.6.a-c

Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints and Angels, and Saints Anthony Abbot and Venantius [entire triptych]

Puccio di Simone, Allegretto Nuzi · 1354 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1937.1.6.a-c

Bibliography

1834

  • Ricci, Amico. Memorie storiche delle arti e degli artisti della Marca di Ancona. 2 vols. Macerata, 1834: 1:88-91.

1929

  • Serra, Luigi. L’arte nelle Marche. 2 vols. Pesaro, 1929-1934: 1:162, 261, 279-293, 294, 296, 313.

1951

  • Marabottini, Alessandro. “Allegretto Nuzi.” Rivista d’arte 27 (1951-1952): 23-55.

1961

  • Procacci, Ugo. “Il primo ricordo di Giovanni da Milano a Firenze.” _Arte Antica e Moderna 13-16 (1961): 49-66.

1968

  • Berenson, Bernard. Italian Pictures of the Renaissance. Central Italian and North Italian Schools. 3 vols. London, 1968: 1:302-305.

1975

  • Zeri, Federico. “Un’ipotesi sui rapporti tra Allegretto Nuzi e Francescuccio Ghissi.” Antichità viva 14, no. 5 (1975): 3-7.

1992

  • Donnini, Giampiero. “Allegretto Nuzi.” In Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon: die bildenden Künstler aller Zeiten und Völker. Edited by Günter Meissner. 83+ vols. Munich and Leipzig, 1983+: 2(1986):180-182.

1998

  • Felicetti, Stefano. “Regesti documentari, 1299–1499.” In Il maestro di Campodonico: rapporti artistici fra Umbria e Marche nel Trecento. Edited by Fabio Marcelli. Fabriano, 1998: 214-226.

2004

  • Marcelli, Fabio. Allegretto di Nuzio: pittore fabrianese. Fabriano, 2004.

2005

  • Tartuferi, Angelo. In Da Allegretto Nuzi a Pietro Perugino. Edited by Fabrizio Moretti and Gabriele Caioni. Exh. cat. Galleria Moretti, Florence, 2005: 26-37.

2016

  • Boskovits, Miklós. Italian Paintings of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2016: 336-337.