documented as early as 1365 - died around 1398/1400 · Florence and late Gothic

Gold backgrounds, precious colors and large liturgical polyptychs place Jacopo di Cione at the heart of Florentine painting after the Black Death and in the heritage of Orcagna's workshop.

Jacopo di Cione belongs to a powerful family of Florentine artists of the 14th century. Younger brother of Andrea di Cione, known as Orcagna, Nardo and Matteo, he was documented as a painter from 1365. He first worked in the vast network of the family workshop, where painting, sculpture and architecture responded to the great religious commissions of Florence. After Orcagna's death in 1368, Jacopo took over the management of the workshop and completed several prestigious projects. He was registered in 1369 with the Arte dei Medici e Speziali, a guild to which the painters belonged. Jacopo took over the management of the workshop and completed several prestigious projects. He was registered in 1369 with the Arte dei Medici e Speziali, the guild to which the painters belonged. The large polyptych commissioned for the high altar of San Pier Maggiore in 1370 -1371 constitutes one of the sets essentials of his career. Today scattered between several collections, he associated the coronation of the Virgin, saints and sacred episodes in very large-scale golden architecture. The Nativity with the Announcement to the Shepherds, Pentecost and other preserved panels show how the workshop organizes a clear narrative within a hierarchical system. Jacopo is also associated with the Pala della Zecca, made for Florentine currency between 1372 and 1374, as well as numerous devotional images. His style extends the monumentality of Orcagna while accentuating the decorative richness: hallmarked gold backgrounds, dense colors, architectural thrones and rows of figures give the image the solemnity of a ceremony. The faces and gestures, however, maintain an accessible gentleness. An important workshop production and family collaborations sometimes make the attributions complex. Jacopo died around 1398 or 1400. His work testifies to the central role of collective workshops in Trecento Florence and the vitality of a late Gothic capable of bringing together material splendor, doctrine and emotion. The "Jacopo di Cione" selection notably compares the Adoration of kings and the Nativity and the Annunciation to the shepherds. Its reading favors light.

In Jacopo di Cione, gold does not erase the story: it transforms each birth, coronation or assembly of saints into a liturgical presence.