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An Italian Workshop at the Avignon Court: Matteo Giovannetti, Painter to Pope Clement VI (1342–1352)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2021

Étienne Anheim*
Affiliation:
École des hautes études en sciences sociales, CRH

Abstract

The artist Matteo Giovannetti, originally from Viterbo, arrived at the papal court of Avignon in the early 1340s. During the reign of pope Clement VI (1342–1352), he succeeded in organizing a court-based workshop of an unprecedented size, which has left numerous traces in the papal administrative archives. This exceptional documentation makes it possible to reconstruct the administrative, financial, material, and technical phases of this workshop’s development, corresponding to the increasing affirmation of Matteo’s artistic position. As well as his mastery of the new Italian visual culture, Matteo drew on innovative techniques in fresco production, project management, and bookkeeping. Studying his workshop thus shines a light on the figure of the artist, at once craftsman, courtier, and entrepreneur. It also reveals the collective and material dimension of creative labor in fourteenth-century Europe.

Information

Type
Renaissance Painting
Copyright
© Éditions EHESS 2021

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