active around 1260 -1276 · Tuscan painting and Byzantine tradition

Gold backgrounds, powerful lines and expressive faces make Coppo di Marcovaldo an essential figure in Florentine painting before Cimabue.

Coppo di Marcovaldo is documented in Florence in the mid-13th century. His biography remains fragmentary, but a decisive episode links his name to the Battle of Montaperti in 1260: probably taken prisoner by the Sienese, the following year he created the Madonna del Bordone for the Servite church in Siena. This Virgin and Child, the only preserved work both signed and dated, combines the gold background and Byzantine frontality with a new search for volume, emotion and proximity between the figures. Coppo then works between Florence, Siena and Pistoia. Crucifixes, mosaics, panels of Saint Michael and large religious compositions are sometimes attributed to him with the participation of his workshop and his son Salerno. Its energetic line, its luminous draperies and the intensity of the looks announce the Tuscan renewal which will lead to Cimabue then to Giotto. However, the restorations and old repaintings make the corpus difficult to establish with certainty. Active at least until the 1270s, Coppo remains one of the first Florentine painters whose name and artistic personality clearly emerge. Active at least until the 1270s, Coppo remains one of the first Florentine painters whose name and artistic personality clearly emerge. The "Coppo di Marcovaldo" selection notably compares Madonna del Bordone and Saint Michael and her legend. His reading favors color.

Coppo retains the gold and solemnity of the icon, but he brings the figures together through gaze, gesture and an already deeply human volume.