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Francesco d’Antonio (Zacchi) da Viterbo [il Balletta]
(b ?Viterbo, c. 1407; d ?Viterbo, before 1476). Italian painter. His workshop was at his home in Piazza S Maria Nuova, Viterbo, where he is documented as active between 1430 and 1464. Two polyptychs form the stylistic core of his attributed oeuvre. The first, signed and dated 1441 and depicting the Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints, was painted for S Giovanni in Zoccoli, Viterbo, the second, signed only and depicting the Virgin and Child Enthroned with SS Rose and Catherine of Alexandria, for S Rosa, Viterbo. On the evidence of the dated work Volpe recognized Francesco as the contemporary, rather than the son of the painter Antonio da Viterbo ( fl c. 1450–c. 1480). Untouched by the advent of the Renaissance, his compositions remain firmly entrenched within the traditions of the Gothic style and display great affinity with the Late Gothic painting of Pisa and, especially, Siena. His early work reflects the enduring influence of Bartolo di Fredi and Taddeo di Bartolo, both active generations before Francesco himself. From them he adopted not only the parallel alignment of his figures with the picture plane but also the sumptuous tooling of their clothing and the conical and tubular cascades of their lavish drapery. This trend in Francesco’s oeuvre reaches its first climax in the triptych depicting Christ Enthroned, formerly in S Maria Maggiore, now in S Lorenzo, Tuscania. The later polyptychs in S Giovanni in Zoccoli, Viterbo, and S Rosa, Viterbo, show a reduction in the effusive drapery of their saints and a relaxation of the consistently parallel alignment of the figures with the picture plane. Facial features take on a new distinctiveness, and richly coloured garments are preferred. In the use of these devices they bear remarkable resemblance to the works of Ottaviano Nelli, but are closest to the style of the Sienese painters Luca di Tommé and Turino di Vanni. In the predella scenes of the S Giovanni in Zoccoli polyptych, which include scenes from the life of St John the Evangelist, the animated, almost playful narrative style is fully consistent with the language of the waning Late Gothic style as employed by Nelli and Jacopo Salimbeni. In Francesco’s later works, after the middle of the 15th century, a new tendency towards the dramatic emerges. In the fresco of the Crucifixion (Viterbo, S Maria Nuova, chapel of S Ambrogio) the Virgin and St John the Evangelist grieve passionately over the dead Christ. Their anguished faces and dramatic gestures clearly reflect similar treatments of the subject by Matteo Giovanetti and Salimbeni. In 1464 Francesco was commissioned to paint and gild a coat of arms for Pope Calixtus III for the Castello of Viterbo. Other works include a fresco depicting the Virgin and Child Enthroned with a Goldfinch (ex-S Maria in Gradi, Viterbo; Viterbo, Mus. Civ.), a fresco of the Virgin and Child Enthroned (Tuscania, S Biagio), and a panel depicting St Ambrose (Viterbo, S Ambrogio). Attributed works are in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, MD, and S Maria Poggio, Viterbo. Francesco’s son Gabriele ( fl 1473–83) was also a painter.
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