By Anne Leader
Florentine painter Neri di Bicci di Lorenzo died on 4 January 1492. He was 74. Neri came from an artistic family stretching back three generations to his grandfather Lorenzo di Bicci, who passed his workshop on to his son Bicci di Lorenzo. Neri continued the family business, producing a large number of paintings, primarily religious, for a wide circle of patrons. He kept detailed records of his activities in a Ricordanze, or record book, dated 1453 through 1475. Rich with detail, Neri’s diary shows the daily life of the Renaissance artist and includes many names of students and assistants as well as important information on the costs associated with making art in the fifteenth century. Though of relatively modest talent and inventiveness, Neri’s success underscores the broad range of tastes and expectations among art owners in early Renaissance Florence.
Reference: Bruno Santi. “Neri di Bicci.” Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press.
St. John the Baptist Leaving for the Desert, c. 1470, tempera on wood. The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham
Nativity, 1470s, tempera on wood. Lindenau-Museum, Altenburg
The Coronation of the Virgin, oil on wood, Musée du Petit Palais, Avignon
Saint Felicity and her Seven Sons, 1464, oil on panel, Santa Felicità, Florence
Virgin and Child with Angels, after 1460, tempera on wood panel. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Holden Collection 1916.798
Virgin and Child Enthroned with Four Angels, c. 1445, tempera on panel, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Charles Potter Kling Fund
Virgin and Child, ca. 1460, tempera on wood panel. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon 1946.242
Martyrdom of San Gennaro, predella panel, tempera on panel. Private Collection.