Andrea del Castagno (c.1421 - 1457) was a Florentine painter influenced
chiefly by Tommaso Masaccio and Giotto di Bondone. His works include
frescoes in Sant'Apollonia in Florence and a painted equestrian monument
of Niccolò da Tolentino (1456) in the Cathedral in Florence.
Giorgio Vasari, an artist and biographer of the Italian Renaissance,
alleged that Castagno murdered Domenico Veneziano, although this seems
rather unlikely - given that Veneziano died in 1461, four years after
Castagno died of the plague.
The Last Supper
The Last Supper fresco in Sant'Apollonia, which is accompanied by other
scenes portraying the Deposition, Resurrection, and Crucifixion, displays
del Castagno's talents to advantage. The arrangement of balanced figures
in an architectural setting is particularly noted. For instance, Saint
John's posture of innocent slumber neatly contrasts Jude the Betrayer's
tense, upright pose, and the hand positions of the final pair of apostles
on either end of the fresco mirror each other with accomplished realism.
The colors of the apostles' robes and their postures contribute to the
balance of the piece.
The detail and naturalism of this fresco portray the ways in which del
Castagno departed from earlier artistic styles. The highly detailed marble
walls hearken back to Roman "First Style" wall paintings, and
that the pillars and statues recall Classical sculpture and preface trompe
l'oeil painting. Furthermore, the color highlights in the hair of the
figures, flowing robes, and a credible perspective in the halos foreshadow
advancements to come.
This article is published under the GNU
Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "Italian Renaissance".