Benozzo di Lese Gozzoli

Procession of the Magi, detail (Self-Portrait)

Years of life:	1421 – 1497
Artist's Teachers:	Fra Angelico
Art Movement:	Early Renaissance
Painting School:	Florentine School

Genre:	Religious
Country:	Italy
Century:	XV

This early Renaissance Florentine master was a rather prosaic artist, rather an artisan, but in his works, one can feel the joy of life. Gozzoli was originally trained as a gold-smith, he worked in his early years with Ghiberti on the doors of the Baptistry in Florence.

Gozzoli was a painter of high-quality altarpieces and predella panels. He liked crowded scenes, which enabled him to show off a combination of brilliant, decorative qualities, and carefully observed solid figures, with no-nonsense faces and expressions.

His characters have beautiful hands with long fingers, and good feet, and are firmly placed on the ground. Note how well Gozzoli arranges crowds and has a propensity to paint the tops of heads, particularly if bald, or with a hat or helmet.

Gozzoli’s major works are Procession of the Magi, 1459–61 (Florence: Palazzo Medici-Riccardi); The Dance of Salome, 1461–62 (Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art); Madonna and Child with Saints, 1461–62 (London: National Gallery); The Raising of Lazarus, c. 1495 (Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art).

References:

Robert Cumming. Art: complete encyclopedia. – 512 p. – Moscow: Astrel, 2005.

Artworks:

Procession of the Magi, detail (Self-Portrait)

Procession of the Magi, detail (Self-Portrait)
Death of St Monica (scene 13, south wall)

between 1464 and 1465

Death of St Monica (scene 13, south wall) • between 1464 and 1465
Descent from the Cross

1491

Descent from the Cross • 1491
Baptism of St Augustine (scene 11, east wall)

between 1464 and 1465

Baptism of St Augustine (scene 11, east wall) • between 1464 and 1465
Arrival of St Augustine in Milan (scene 8, north wall)

between 1464 and 1465

Arrival of St Augustine in Milan (scene 8, north wall) • between 1464 and 1465
Birth of Mary

1491

Birth of Mary • 1491
Madonna and Child

1460

Madonna and Child • 1460
St Anthony of Padua

1450s

St Anthony of Padua • 1450s
St Sebastian Intercessor

between 1464 and 1465

St Sebastian Intercessor • between 1464 and 1465
The Departure of St Jerome from Antioch

1452

The Departure of St Jerome from Antioch • 1452
The Parable of the Holy Trinity (scene 12, south wall)

between 1464 and 1465

The Parable of the Holy Trinity (scene 12, south wall) • between 1464 and 1465
Triumph of St. Thomas Aquinas over Averroes, detail

1468-1484

Triumph of St. Thomas Aquinas over Averroes, detail • 1468-1484
Fall of Simon Magus

between 1461 and 1462

Fall of Simon Magus • between 1461 and 1462
St Dominic Resuscitates Napoleone Orsini

1461

St Dominic Resuscitates Napoleone Orsini • 1461