Matteo di Pacino

Matteo is first recorded in 1359 when he was admitted into the Florentine painter’s guild, however he must have been active before then and the signed and dated 1361 altarpiece shows the refinement of a mature painter. His early work was influenced by Bernardo Daddi (ca. 1280–1348), whose emphasis on decorative elaboration is evident in the ex-Stroganoff polyptych. However, by the 1360s, he evolved to embrace the style of the dominant workshop in Florence that of Andrea and Jacopo di Cione (1325–1390), which combined a fondness for graceful line, ornate punch-work in the gold and high color and heavily contoured figures and facial features. Matteo di Pacino also worked as a miniaturist, alongside Francesco di Ser Francesco Cenni (Florence active ca.1369–1415), on choir books for Santa Croce. His fame peaked after about 1365 when he was entrusted with the completion of the frescoes for the Rinuccini Chapel whose upper tiers had been painted by the celebrated Lombard artist Giovanni da Milano (1325–1370). Matteo was Influenced by da Milano, who also worked alongside him for the Cistercian monks at Badia a Settimo; as a result, Matteo introduced Lombard naturalistic details such as wrinkles in the forehead, folds at the root of the nose and botanical still-lifes into his art. Matteo di Pacino’s career was cut off, probably by another outbreak of the plague, in 1374.