Virgin and Child

1420

Born

1439–1440 and 1443–1444

Assistant to Fra Angelico at the convent of San Marco

According to Vasari, Fra Angelico was his master, though there is no further confirmation of this; in 1439–1440 and 1443–1444 Benozzo helps the master decorate the convent of San Marco in Florence. His established contributions are the “Adoration of the Magi” in Cosimo de' Medici's cell and the “Women at the Tomb” in cell 8 (these are dated 1440–1441).

1449

Leaving Fra Angelico: independent work in Umbria

Leaving Fra Angelico, he moves to Umbria and begins to work independently. Pope Nicholas V entrusts him with frescoes in the monastery of San Fortunato near Montefalco: a “Madonna and Child between St Francis and St Bernardine of Siena” and three other works, among them the altarpiece “Madonna of the Girdle” (now in the Vatican Museums), which shows how close Benozzo's early style is to Angelico's.

1467

Moving to Pisa and the commission for the Campo Santo frescoes

He leaves San Gimignano for Pisa (by other accounts in 1469), where he takes on the most extensive commission of his career: the murals of the Campo Santo, twenty-four Old Testament subjects from the “Drunkenness of Noah” to the “Visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon”. His contract calls for three subjects a year at about ten ducats each, but in practice he paints only three pictures in two years.

1495

The French invasion forces him to leave Pisa

After the invasion of Italy by the French troops of Charles VIII he is forced to leave Pisa and return to Florence; the same year he goes to Pistoia, having received another prestigious commission: to decorate the interior of the town hall with frescoes.

4 ottobre 1497

Died