Page 247 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

appearance in his early twenties. On the other
hand, the young man's glove and rich costume
indicate that he was someone of high status, so
identification with the young duke is possible.
There are records of a portrait of Pacioli in the
ducal collection in Urbino from the late sixteenth
century, when it was attributed to Piero della
Francesca, until 1654 (Naples and Rome 1983). (It
should be noted that the traditional identification
of a portrait of Pacioli in the background of Piero's
altarpiece of the Madonna and Saints with Duke
Federigo da Montefeltro (Brera, Milan) should be
treated with extreme caution, not only on chron-
ological grounds but also in view of the improb-
ability that a Franciscan monk would be portrayed
as the notable Dominican saint, Peter Martyr.)
Although it is unclear how and when the present
panel arrived in Naples, there seems no need to
presume the existence of two separate versions of
the portrait.
There are numerous filled-in paint losses across
the panel and an area of severe damage in the left
corner. The main figurative elements have sur-
vived in reasonably reliable condition, although
Pacioli's left eye shows signs of having been
reworked. The most frustrating area of damage
and retouching occurs around the last digit of the
date. The paint is handled in a solid and unfussy
manner, with restrained passages of textural
description and beautifully observed reflections in
the suspended polyhedron. The draftsmanship
places considerable emphasis upon simple volu-
metric shapes and carefully observed cast shad-
ows—characteristics that suggest the influence of
Piero della Francesca, either directly or through
Venetian intermediaries such as Antonello da
Messina and Alvise Vivarini.
Whatever the remaining historical problems,
the portrait of Pacioli in Naples is exceptional as
the most substantial and evocative record of any
man of science from the early Renaissance.
M.K.

of the Ognissanti and placed on the right wall of Botticelli's is likely to have been painted at about
the nave. This occurred following the replacement the same time, before his departure for Rome in
144 of the Umiliati in the monastery associated with 1481 to work in the Sistine Chapel. The shield on

Alessandro Botticelli the church by the Minor Franciscan Observants the cornice above the saint indicates that his
Florentine, 1444 or 1445-1510 and the consequent reorganization of the church fresco was undertaken for a member of the Ves-
interior, which included removal of the screen. pucci family, a number of whom patronized the
THE VISION OF SAINT AUGUSTINE The low viewpoint of the study represented in the church.
painting—we are looking up from the level of the Although the images by Ghirlandaio and Bot-
c. 1480 saint's ankles — may well have been chosen in ticelli both belong to the tradition of the contem-
detached fresco relation to the original height of the choir and its plative scholar-saint in his study, a tradition that
l
185 x 123 (73 x 4.8/2) (irregular) screen above the level of the nave. Following the had been inspired in Florence largely by the pres-
references: Milanesi 1905-1915, 3:311; Home 1908;
Roberts 1959; Rotondi 1959; Meiss 1970; Lightbown flood of 1966, the fresco was removed again and ence of a lost painting of Saint Jerome by Jan van
1978, no. ^25; Kemp 1984 restored. Although its present condition shows Eyck then in the Medici collection, Botticelli's
clear signs of its adventures, the major areas of the depiction has exceptionally introduced a narrative
Church of the Ognissanti, Florence composition are in surprisingly good condition. It element. With great eloquence he has illustrated a
was originally painted at the right of the door into spurious but apparently popular story from the
In the 1560$ Botticelli's fresco was detached from the choir as a companion piece to Domenico Ghir- saint's life. A letter purporting to have been writ-
its original location on the screen wall (tramezzo) landaio's Saint Jerome, which stood on the left of ten by Augustine to Saint Cyril (which was prob-
separating the nave from the choir of the Church the door. Ghirlandaio's fresco is dated 1480, and ably a thirteenth-century invention) recounted

246 CIRCA 1492