(b Florence, 1445; d Florence, 28 March 1527). Italian illuminator and stationer. He was trained in the climate created by such painters and illuminators as Zanobi Strozzi and Apollonio di Giovanni, who were important during the 1450s. Their influence accounts for the dynamism and the sculptural treatment of his figures, which gives them a courtly flavour reminiscent of the work of Andrea del Verrocchio or Antonio del Pollaiuolo. Antonio di Niccolò di Lorenzo’s interest in larger-scale works—frescoes or panel paintings—is apparent from his repeated depiction, especially in border decoration, of metal objects, individually characterized interiors, portraits and contemporary fashions. He took his inspiration from scenes painted on cassoni, and from Apollonio’s late work. Stylistic affinities between Antonio and Francesco di Antonio del Chierico have sometimes led to confusion between their work; however, enough of Antonio’s works have been traced to distinguish him substantially from the del Foro bottega, Giovanni Boccardi and many other illuminators. The discovery of a catalogue recording the sale in 1468–9 of a Psalter (ex-De Marinis priv. col., Florence, MS. 261) for the convent of S Francesco in Fiesole shows the success of the artist, even in his youth. In a later Gradual (Lucca, Bib. Stat., MS. 2676) from the convent of S Francesco in Lucca, the monumentality and sculptural forms of the human figures, elaborated in the manner of panel painting, suggest that Antonio was familiar with the work of Sandro Botticelli, Filippino Lippi and Domenico Ghirlandaio. Antonio is known primarily for the documented graduals (1473–5; Florence, Bib. Capitolo, graduale A and F) executed for the Compagnia dei Servi of SS Annunziata in Florence; these were formerly the only known works of the artist. The Fior di virtù (Florence, Bib. Riccardiana, MS. 1711), in which allegorical and moralistic themes predominate, was illuminated by Antonio for Agnolo Bardi. Apart from the evident stylistic affinities with Botticelli’s work, the presence in this codex of a drawing of Urania that was clearly influenced by Botticelli supports the hypothesis that the two were in direct contact. Antonio illuminated a copy of the Storia fiorentina (Florence, Bib. N. Cent., MS. II.III. 53–4), a translation (1473) by Donato Acciaiuoli (1429–78) of a Latin original, for the Strozzi family, in which his early interest in Verrocchio seems to have been revived. He made some bindings for Ripoli Monastery in 1480–82. The only known work produced by Antonio after 1484 is in the incipit page of a choir-book (Pisa, Mus. Sinopic Composanto Mnmtl, corale A).