documented as early as 1343 - died around 1365/1366 · Gothic Florence

Monumental gold, serious figures and luminous hierarchy make Nardo di Cione an essential master of Florentine painting after Giotto.

Nardo di Cione was documented in Florence from the 1340s and died around 1365 or 1366. He belonged to an important family of artists: his brothers Andrea, known as Orcagna, Jacopo and Matteo also worked as painters, sculptors or architects. The attributions to Nardo are based in particular on the testimony of Lorenzo Ghiberti, who associated him with the frescoes of the Strozzi chapel in Santa Maria Novella. In this major ensemble, the Last Judgment, Paradise and Hell cover the walls with a multitude of figures ordered according to a precise theology. Nardo extends Giotto's legacy while returning to a more hieratic frontality: gold backgrounds, firm contours, symmetry and deep colors give his images liturgical authority. The Crucifixion with saints concentrates pain and intercession around the body of Christ. The Nativity with the angel of the Annunciation belonged to a triptych, each part of which linked several moments of the story. The Triptych at the Throne of Grace organizes God the Father, Christ and the dove in a vertical structure intended for private prayer. The Triptych at the Throne of Grace organizes God the Father, Christ and the dove in a vertical structure intended for private prayer. The Triptych at the Throne of Grace, surrounded by saints, on the contrary, develops a more monumental sacred court. Even when several members of the family workshop collaborate, the painting associated with Nardo maintains this calm gravity and doctrinal clarity. The "Nardo di Cione" selection notably compares Crucifixion with saints and Nativity with the angel of the Annunciation. His reading favors figures.

Nardo di Cione organizes gold as a spiritual space: each figure finds its place, its rank and its silence in an architecture of faith.