Orcagna

Andrea di Cione di Arcangelo (c. 1308 – 25 August 1368), better known as Orcagna, was an Italian painter, sculptor, and architect active in Florence. He worked as a consultant at the Florence Cathedral and supervised the construction of the façade at the Orvieto Cathedral.^[1] The highly paid tabernacle for the Maestà by Bernardo Daddi at Orsanmichele (1349–59) was immediately praised.^[2] His Strozzi Altarpiece (1354–57) is noted as defining a new role for Christ as a source of Catholic doctrine and papal authority.^[3][4]

Statue of Andrea Orcagna on the Piazzale degli Uffizi in Florence carved by Niccolò Bazzanti at Pietro Bazzanti e Figlio Art Gallery, Florence

Works

Orcagna's works include:

• Fresco of Saint Anne calling the citizens of Florence to arms against the tyrant Walter of Brienne, Duke of Athens, in the Palazzo Vecchio (c. 1343), a huge circular painting with a truthful depiction of the former prison (Carcere delle Stinche)
• Altarpiece of the Redeemer (1354–57) in the Strozzi di Mantova Chapel at Santa Maria Novella, Florence
• The tabernacle in Orsanmichele (finished 1359)
• The mosaic decoration and the design for the rose window of the cathedral of Orvieto is attributed to Orcagna, who had become Master of the Works in 1359.
• His fresco of the Crucifixion with a multitude of angels surrounding the cross, portrayed on a dark background and a few fragments of the Last Supper (1365).^[5]

Pupils

Among Orcagna's pupils and legacy were:

• Nello di Vanni, a Pisan painter of the 14th century, who also worked for the Campo Santo. Nello di Vanni is conjectured to be identical with Bernardo Nello or Giovanni Falcone.^[6]
• Tommaso del Mazza, called Tomasso di Marco by Giorgio Vasari.^[7]
• Jacopo di Cione, brother of Andrea and mainly sculptor and architect.^[8]