Coppo di Marcovaldo, born in the second or third decade of the 13th
century, was the artist who introduced the Byzantine style of painting
to Florence, though deeply transformed by a personal interpretation
that gave vitality and dynamism to the strictly ornamental motifs of
the icon. In spite being one of the most important painters before
Cimabue in Florentine art circles, and also the best documented in that
century, very little is known of his actual life, many of his paintings
have been lost and his catalogue of works has often been re-defined and
re-numbered by critics. Florentine by birth and training, he was part
of the same school as the unknown author of Cross n. 434 in the Uffizi
Museum in Florence. He also appears to have been active in Siena and
Pistoia where, from 1265, he was commissioned to carry out frescoes and
paintings on wood for the Cathedral.
The oldest testimonial of his
activity probably dates from the mid century and consists in his
intervention in the realisation of the Altarpiece of San Francesco in
the Bardi Chapel in Santa Croce in Florence. However the Madonna of
Bordone, signed and dated 1261, is Coppo's only certain work. He
painted it for the Church of the Servi in Siena when he was captured
and imprisoned there after the battle of Montaperti and this was the
first time that the model of the Byzantine icon, with the typical
lyre-shaped throne and the gilded ray-shaped designs on the vestments,
was to appear in Florentine painting.
The painted Crucifix in the Civic Museum of San Gimignano, unanimously
recognised as the first work of his maturity, was also probably carried
out during his stay in Siena. The altarpiece of San Michele at Vico
l'Abate probably dates from only a little later; it shows a more
articulated and complex rhythmic interchange and a more adventurous
compositional design. Much of the painter's later production was
carried out in collaboration with his son Salerno, as in the execution
of the painted Cross for the Cathedral of Pistoia, mentioned in
documents as dating from 1274-76, where Coppo is thought to have
painted the stories of the Deposition at the Sepulchre and the Three
Marys at the Tomb on the large panel in wood.
Fairly recent studies
have also recognised Coppo's activity as a miniaturist, attributing him
with two manuscripts. One is the Psalter preserved in the Laurentian
Library in Florence (Aquisti e Doni 181) that corresponds to his early
style, with the composition characterised by a delicate chromatic
harmony and wealth of detail. The other is the monumental Bible in the
Guarnacci Library in Volterra (cod. LXI.8.7. [II]), which is
stylistically linked to the work of his maturity; here in fact the
figures acquire a monumental presence, while the contrasts in the
chiaroscuro become more intense.
Many unresolved questions still hinder
a complete reconstruction of Coppo di Marcovaldo's career. The
attribution of a group of paintings that show a clear change of style
compared to the works mentioned above, in other words, a tendency
towards a more refined way of painting, with a greater sensitivity in
the use of colour and slower and more delicate lines, is not accepted
by many critics. These paintings include the Madonna of the Servites at
Orvieto, the Cross in the Bandini Museum in Fiesole, and the Madonna of
the Carmelites in Santa Maria Maggiore in Florence which, according to
some critics, could be by Meliore. Moreover his participation in the painted decoration of the Last
Judgement in the cupola of the Baptistery in Florence (carried out over
thirty years, from 1271), still has to be more clearly defined; he is
attributed with the Christ in Justice, the Resurrected and part of the
group of those blessed, damned and in Hell.
His style, which was a
renewal of the painting traditions taken from Oriental Byzantine, was
to act as a reference point for most Florentine painters in the last
quarter of a century, especially Cimabue. It was to have a clear
influence on other towns and cities in Tuscany and steer figurative
culture towards more expressive and immediate styles, thus leaving the
privilege of a more linear and decorative painting to his contemporary
Meliore
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