circa 1370/85 -1427 · International Gothic, gold, light and court elegance

Chiseled gold, precious fabrics, observed animals and unifying light make Gentile da Fabriano the most refined master of Italian international Gothic.

Gentile di Niccolo di Giovanni di Massio was born in Fabriano, in the Marches, around 1370 or 1385. The first stages of his training remained uncertain, but his art assimilated Lombard miniature, Umbrian painting and the taste of the courts of Italy of North for sumptuous surfaces. Active in Venice from the beginning of the 15th century, he painted frescoes there that are now lost and exerted a lasting influence on Jacopo Bellini. He then worked in Brescia, in the Marches, in Umbria and in Florence, traveling with a mobile workshop according to orders. Valle Romita's Polyptych combines a gold background, slender figures and sensitive observation of flowers, birds and materials. In Florence, where he entered the guild in 1422, Gentile produced for Palla Strozzi the Adoration of the Magi of 1423. This masterpiece transforms the biblical journey into a cosmopolitan procession: brocades, horses, leopards, jewelry, landscapes and successive episodes unite with a light which already announces the research of the Renaissance. The decorative richness prevents neither the narrative depth nor the attention to the real world. The Presentation in the Temple, from the predella, contrasts the elegance of the sacred figures with the daily life which animates the square. In the Quaratesi Madonna, completed in 1425, the throne, the angels and the golden motifs form a vision that is both monumental and intimate. The small panels dedicated to Saint Nicholas or Saint Francis demonstrate his ability to condense movement, miracle and landscape. Called to Rome by Pope Martin V, Gentile undertook frescoes there in Saint John Lateran, completed after his death by Pisanello. He died in 1427. His work constitutes a summit of international Gothic while preparing, through light and observation, several innovations of the first Quattrocento. The selection "Gentile da Fabriano" notably compares Adoration of the Magi and Madonna Quaratesi. His reading favors the material.

At Gentile, gold does not erase the world: it welcomes fabric, animals, landscape and light into a reality made more precious.