Pittura tra Pisa e Lucca al principio del Quattrocento: alcuni casi dello stile ‘gotico internazionale’
Marco M. Mascolo
At the beginning of the fifteenth century, Florence became one of the centers from which the so-called ‘International Gothic’ radiated. The frescoes of Gherardo Starnina and the Empoli polyptych of Lorenzo Monaco established a new point of departure for Florentine artists, who were able to overcome the influence of the Giottesque tradition. An interesting case is how and in which manner these examples were spread to Pisa, Volterra, and Lucca. Of these cities, Lucca was the one which, with a great polyptych by Starnina, contributed to the circulation of this new stylistic paradigm. Exposed to the influence of both Florence and Lucca, on the other hand, the way in which Pisa and its artists reacted to these novelties permits one to trace a unique and interesting history: Works by Alvaro Pirez, Borghese di Piero, and Battista di Gerio are the best examples of the new style and of its dissemination.