In 1454 the Sienese painter Francesco di Bartolomeo Alfei faced litigation from the Mercanzia in Siena for defaulting on a contract from one of the leading Franciscan confraternities in the city. Two fellow Sienese artists, Giovanni di Paolo and Sano di Pietro, had recently completed a new altarpiece for the same entity. Anabel Thomas considers how the two commissions were linked and questions why Francesco di Bartolomeo Alfei’s brief to fresco the confraternity chapel remained unfinished.
In a wide ranging analysis of mainly unpublished records, focussing on the artist’s association with key members of Sienese society, fellow artisans and government officials, Thomas concludes that Francesco di Bartolomeo Alfei might have honoured his contract had he not become immersed in the military strategy, diplomacy and visual propaganda of the Republic of Siena.
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- Cover
- Table of Contents
- Preface
- Structure of the Book
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part One Art and Diplomacy
- 1. The Politics of Journeyman Painting
- 2. The Diplomat Leonardo Benvoglienti and His ‘Friend’, the Painter Francesco di Bartolomeo Alfei
- Part Two Francesco di Bartolomeo Alfei:
Conflicting Career Options
- 1. Workshop Training and Neighbourhood Networking
- 2. Military Action in Defence of Siena’s Southern Territories
- Part Three Giovanni di Paolo, Sano di Pietro and Francesco di Bartolomeo Alfei Undertake Work for the ‘Chompangnia e Fraternita di San Franciescho posta nel Chonvento di San Franciescho’
- 1. The Fraternity
- 2. A New Altarpiece
- 3. Fresco Work in the ‘Company Chapel’
- Part Four Francesco di Bartolomeo Alfei, ‘Trusted Servant’ Inside and Outside the Walls of Siena
- Foreword
- 1. Arbitrator and Scribe for the Trecerchi
- 2. Martinozzi Patronage
- 3. Government-Sponsored Work Inside Siena and Official Postings in Montalcino, the Val di Chiana and Vergelle
- Part Five The Ponte d’Arbia Project:
Preserving the ‘Honour’ of Siena
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Photograph credits and copyright notices
- General Index
- Author Index
- List of Illustrations
- Girolamo Macchi, 1708, Compagnia di Santo Bernardino, Archivio di Stato di Siena, Ms. D 107, fol. 155r.
- Figure 1 Sano di Pietro workshop (previously attributed to Francesco di Bartolomeo Alfei), Crucifixion, mid fifteenth century, tempera on wood, Museo Civico, Siena.
- Figure 2 Anonymous fifteenth-century Italian painter (previously attributed to the ‘Maestro dell’Osservanza’ and before that to Francesco di Bartolomeo Alfei), Christ in the Tomb, c. 1435, tempera on wood, Inv. 1183, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon.
- Figure 3 Sano di Pietro, The Beato Bernardino Albizzeschi Preaching in the Piazza del Campo, mid fifteenth century, tempera on wood, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo di Siena.
- Figure 4 Torre del Mangia, Palazzo del Comune, Siena.
- Figure 5 Anonymous Sienese painter, Builder at Work Inside a Castle, 1440, ‘Tavoletta’ of the Biccherna n. 88, (ex Casseri e Fortezze), tempera on panel, Museo delle Biccherne, Archivio di Stato di Siena.
- Figure 6 Orlando Malavolti, Pianta dello Stato Fiorentino (Map of the Florentine State), ‘Storia di Siena’, 1599, print, Archivio di Stato di Siena, Biblioteca vetrina.
- Figure 7 Aldobrandeschi Territory in the Early Thirteenth Century, line drawing by the author.
- Figure 8 Francesco di Bartolomeo Alfei, Letter written in Asciano on 24 October 1482, pen and ink on paper, Archivio di Stato di Siena, Concistoro 2050, lettera n. 16, 49/2000, fol. 1r.
- Figure 9 Francesco di Bartolomeo Alfei, Letter written in Rigomagno on 24 November 1460, pen and ink on paper, Archivio di Stato di Siena, Concistoro 1999, no. 27, fol. 1r.
- Figure 10 Leonardo Benvoglienti, Letter sent from Rome on 14 April 1458 to Cristofano Felice in Siena, pen and ink on paper, Archivio Storico, Opera della Metropolitana Onlus, Siena, cosidetto Libro dei documenti artistici, AMOS, 25 (30).
- Figure 11 Sano di Pietro, The Beato Bernardino Albizzeschi Preaching on the Sacrato of San Francesco, mid fifteenth century, tempera on wood, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo di Siena.
- Figure 12 Leonardo Benvoglienti, Ambassadorial report drawn up in Venice on 26 March 1454, pen and ink on paper, Archivio di Stato di Siena, Concistoro 1977, lettera n. 1, fol. 1r.
- Figures 13, 14 and 15 Leonardo Benvoglienti, Ambassadorial report drawn up in Venice on 2 November 1453, pen and ink on paper, Archivio di Stato di Siena, Concistoro, 1976, lettera n. 3, fols. 1r–3r.
- Figure 16 Gottifredo Descaichi, Siege of Orbetello, 1646, print, private collection.
- Figure 17 Matthäus Merian the Younger, Siege of Orbetello, 1646, coloured print, private collection.
- Figure 18 ‘Maestro dell’Osservanza’ (also attributed, amongst others, to Francesco di Bartolomeo Alfei, Giovanni di Paolo, Sano di Pietro and the ‘Maestro dei monocromi di Monticiano’), The Archangel Michael Fighting the Dragon, July–December 1444, ‘Tavol
- Figure 19 Anonymous late fourteenth-century or early fifteenth-century painter, The Archangel Michael Enthroned, ‘Tavoletta’ of the Biccherna, tempera on panel, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo di Siena.
- Figure 20 Sano di Pietro and the ‘Maestro dell’Osservanza’, Saint Anthony Abbot and Saint Jerome, mid fifteenth-century, tempera on wood, Museo d’Arte sacra della diocesi di Grosseto (Grosseto).
- Figure 21 Bonifazio Ottieri, Letter despatched to the Republic of Siena on 19 October 1455, pen and ink on paper, Archivio di Stato di Siena, Balia 488, lettera n. 72, 19 ottobre 1455, r.
- Figure 22 Bonifazio Ottieri, Letter despatched to the Republic of Siena on 25 October 1455, pen and ink on paper, Archivio di Stato di Siena, Balia 488, lettera n. 85, 25 ottobre 1455, r.
- Figure 23 The Oratory of San Bernardino on the Piazza di San Francesco.
- Figure 24 Porticoed entrance to the Office of the Carabinieri on Piazza di San Francesco.
- Figure 25 Engraved stone tablet commemorating the completion of the new hospital and chapel of the Compagnia di Santa Maria degli Angeli e di San Francesco, 1465, Museo Diocesano, Siena.
- Figure 26 Internal staircase, Museo Diocesano, Siena.
- Figure 27 Map of the River Arbia and Its Bridge and Surrounding Territory, 1644, pen and ink and coloured print, Archivio di Stato di Firenze, Corporazioni religiose soppresse dal governo francese, 132 (Religione dei Cavalieri di Malta), n. 184.
- Figure 28 Pietro Petruccini (?and Bernardino Capitelli), View of the Bridge over the River Arbia, 1629, etching, Biblioteca Comunale, Siena.
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