Search View Andrea del Castagno

To find a specific word, name, or topic in this article, select the option in your Web browser for finding within the page. In Internet Explorer, this option is under the Edit menu.

The search seeks the exact word or phrase that you type, so if you don’t find your choice, try searching for a keyword in your topic or recheck the spelling of a word or name.

Andrea del Castagno

Andrea del Castagno (c. 1421-1457), originally named Andrea di Bartolo di Bargilla, Florentine painter of the early Renaissance. He was born in Castagno, near Florence, Italy, and except for a brief period in Venice in about 1442, worked in Florence. There he chiefly painted frescoes for the Church and for the Medici and other wealthy families. Particularly outstanding are The Last Supper and a series on the Passion of Christ painted for the convent of Sant'Apollonia (both c. 1445-1450, Sant'Apollonia, now the Castagno Museum). The influence of the Florentine painter Masaccio is seen in Andrea's broad, solid figures and the emotional intensity conveyed both by posture and facial expression. Andrea's architectural backgrounds, including columns, stairs, and windows, display his skill in the then-new science of perspective.

The graceful sculpture of the Florentine artist Donatello increasingly influenced Andrea's later work. Notable late pieces include Famous Men and Women, a series of nine works for the Villa Carducci at Legnaia (c. 1450, Castagno Museum) and a fresco depicting the military leader, Niccolò da Tolentino, on horseback (1456, Florence Cathedral). See Renaissance Art and Architecture.