Street art in Florence (with Niccolò di Tommaso)
- Niccolò di Tommaso (second half of XIV century), fragments of frescoes from the castle of Balzo, now in the museum of Castel Nuovo, Naples
- Niccolò di Tommaso (second half of XIV century), “Saint Antony Abbot”, detail, (1371), Naples, Capodimonte Museum
- Niccolò di Tommaso (second half of XIV century), “Vision of St. Brigid of the Nativity”, Rome, Pinacoteca Vaticana
- Niccolò di Tommaso (second half of XIV century), “Crucifixion and saints”, tabernacle, Via delle Belle Donne, Florence
Walking in Via delle Belle Donne, in Florence, at the intersection with Via della Spada, via the Sun and Piazza Santa Maria Novella, you can spot a tabernacle with the painting “Crucifixion and Saints.” It is a work by Niccolò di Tommaso, a Florentine painter active in Tuscany and Campania in the second half of the fourteenth century. He is considered a follower of Nardo di Cione, and he might have also been his co-worker at the time of the decoration of the Strozzi chapel (1355-1357 approx.) in S. Maria Novella in Florence.
Di Tommaso’s most important work is the fresco decoration of the church of S. Antonio Abate in Pistoia (now the Marino Marini Foundation). Amongst his other works, we can remember for instance the “Lamentation over the Dead Christ” now in the Pinacoteca Giuseppe Stuard in Parma and the “Madonna del Parto” in the church of San Lorenzo in Florence.
According to art historian Miklos Boskovits, with regards to the link between art and literature, there is a possible identity between Niccolò di Tommaso and the painter Niccolaio, one of the artists active in S. Miniato al Monte described in the “Trecentonovelle” written by Franco Sacchetti (story CXXXVI).
Di Tommaso’s style seems to be an evolution of the Orcagna’s one, as proved by the frescoes of the castle of Casaluce in Aversa (Caserta), at the moment preserved in the museum of Castel Nuovo in Naples. Many of his works are now in museums and private collections around the world (Ajaccio, Baltimore, Besançon, Cambridge, Philadelphia, Florence, Lyon, New Haven, New York, Prague, Prato, Rome, Turin, Venice).
January 19, 2014