Andrea Orcagna

Andrea Orcagna, real name Andrea di Cione (1308?-1368?), Italian painter, sculptor, mosaicist, and architect, born in Florence, the son of a goldsmith. He entered the painters' guild in 1343 and the stone masons' guild in 1352. Influenced both by the traditional, hieratic Byzantine style and by the new naturalism of Giotto and Andrea Pisano, Orcagna was regarded as the leading master of his day. He often collaborated with his three brothers, Nardo, Matteo, and Jacopo. The only painting solely by Orcagna is an elaborate altarpiece, The Redeemer (1357), for the Strozzi Chapel in Santa Maria Novella, Florence. In this work the expressive monumental figures stand out boldly from the gold Byzantine background. Remnants of frescoes by Orcagna adorn Santa Croce, Florence.

In 1355 Orcagna began work on the famous sculptured tabernacle for Or San Michele, Florence; it is an elaborate structure decorated in late Gothic style but with strong modeling and an emotional expressiveness that foreshadowed the Renaissance. From 1359 to 1362 he directed the construction of Orvieto Cathedral and made mosaics for its facade. From 1364 to 1367 he directed the building of Florence Cathedral.