1439/1440 -1507 · Florentine Renaissance and Sistine Chapel

Bright altarpieces, populated biblical stories and precious colors place Cosimo Rosselli among the Florentine masters called to decorate the Sistine Chapel.

Born in Florence in 1439 or 1440, Cosimo Rosselli was formed from 1453 to 1456 in the workshop of Neri di Bicci. From this learning he retained a taste for clear compositions, proven devotional types and frank colors, while integrating the research of Baldovinetti, Pollaiolo and Flemish painting. His first large Florentine altarpieces show a monumental organization of saints around the Virgin and Child. In 1481, Sixtus IV called him to Rome with Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and Perugino to decorate the walls of the Sistine Chapel. In 1481, Sixtus IV called him to Rome with Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and Perugino to decorate the walls of the Sistine Chapel. In 1481, Sixtus IV called him to Rome with Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and Perugino to decorate the walls of the Sistine Chapel. In 1481, Sixtus IV called him to Rome with Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and Perugino to decorate the walls of the Sistine Chapel. In 1481, Sixtus IV called him to Rome with Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and Perugino to decorate the walls of the Sistine Descent from Mount Sinai and the Sermon on the Mount. Back in Florence, he led a fruitful workshop and continued altarpieces, devotional panels and frescoes. His art combines abundant narration, decorative brilliance and doctrinal readability until his death in 1507. The "Cosimo Rosselli" selection notably compares The Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist, Saint Andrew Bartholomew and Saint Zenobius and Virgin and Child with angels. His reading favors space.

Rosselli organizes abundance: architecture, crowds, landscape and color guide the gaze without losing the clarity of the sacred story.