of the portrait of Petrarch which alone survives of the
original decoration suggests that Altichiero worked in
the room. Historical and literary evidence shows that
the frescoes could not have been begun before 1367 and
had been completed, or nearly completed, by January- The decoration was based on De viris illustribus
(On Famous Men), begun by Petrarch, fi nished after his
death by Lombardo della Seta, and dedicated by both to
Francesco da Carrara the Elder. The original program
must have consisted of thirty-six fi gures of famous gen-
erals and statesmen from Romulus to Trajan, all but three
of them Roman, with narrative scenes and inscriptions
beneath; portraits of Petrarch and Lombardo in their
studies; and a Triumph of Fame. Assisting with this
reconstruction are illuminations from two manuscripts
of De viris illustribus in the Bibliothèque Nationale
in Paris (Lat. 6069F and I) and one in Darmstadt (ms.
101). The Triumphs of Fame in the fi rst two and an
allegory of Padua and Venice in a third manuscript in
Paris (Lat. 6069G) are often attributed to Altichiero,
though it seems more likely that they were painted by
his followers.
No sources or documents exist for the votive fresco
of the Coronation of the Virgin on the tomb of Diamante
Dotto, which was in the church of the Eremitani in
Padua before it was destroyed during World War II, or
for the votive fresco in the Cavalli Chapel in the church
of Sant’Anastasia in Verona. Scholars unanimously
attribute both to Altichiero, although they disagree on
the dates. The fi rst was probably painted around 1371,
when Dotto died. The other was done before September
1390, when it was broken by another monument. It must
have been painted after the chapel of San Giacomo in
Padua, which its architectural background presupposes,
and it may have been done after 1384, when Altichiero
presumably returned to his native city.
Style and Infl uence
By about mid-century, the painters of Verona had ab-
sorbed the style of Giotto from nearby Padua, along
with more recent Florentine and Sienese infl uences that
seem to have been transmitted primarily through Rimi-
nese and Lombard intermediaries. With the exception
of a polyptych signed by Turone and dated 1360, in the
Castelvecchio, and some attributions based on it, the
surviving works of this school are all anonymous.
Altichiero built on the local school, which had al-
ready naturalized the art of Giotto. Although he also
knew the work of Maso di Banco and probably other
Florentine followers of Giotto, he turned directly to
the great example of Giotto’s frescoes in Padua for the
essentials of his own style. However, whereas Giotto’s
forms are abstract and timeless, Altichiero’s fi gures are
dressed in the costume of his time. Also, their featuresare more individualized than Giotto’s, and the fl esh
tones are more softly graduated. Altichiero was more
sensitive to nuances of light, color, and surface texture.
His fi gures are smaller in scale than Giotto’s, relative
to their surroundings and to the picture fi eld; they are
more numerous; and their distribution is more random
and lifelike. Despite these differences, Altichiero retains
Giotto’s sense of monumentality and-human dignity.
His architectural settings, which were inspired by the
Carrara court painter, Guariento, are more spacious and
complex than Giotto’s. But unlike these artists and oth-
ers of their century, Altichiero generally avoided show-
ing a structure with its front wall arbitrarily removed to
reveal the interior; he preferred views more truthful to
optical experience.
Altichiero, like Giusto de’ Menabuoi, was probably
called to Padua to fi ll the vacancy left by the death of
Guariento. Altichiero, Giusto, and Avanzo (whose fres-
coes in Sant’Antonio are close to Altichiero and were
infl uenced by him) were the leaders of a Giottoesque
revival in Padua at a time when painting in Florence had
stagnated, owing to a relaxation of Giotto’s principles.
Altichiero and, to a lesser extent, Avanzo had a dominant
infl uence on painting and manuscript illumination in
Padua and Verona that lasted to the beginning of the fi f-
teenth century. This infl uence extended chronologically
as far as Pisanello, Jacopo Bellini, and the Renaissance.
Geographically, it extended beyond the Veneto as far
as Austria and France, where the Limbourg brothers
worked.
See also Giotto di Bondone; Guisto de’ MenabuoiFurther Reading
Benati, Daniele. Jacopo Avanzi nel rinnovamento della pittura
padana del secondo ’300. Bologna: Grafi s Edizioni d’Arte,
1992.
Cuppini, Maria Teresa. “La pittura a Verona e nel territorio ve-
ronese dal principio del sec. XIV alia metà del Quattrocento.”
In Verona e il suo territorio. Verona: Istituto per gli Studi
Storici Veronesi, 1969, Vol. 3, pt. 2, pp. 286–383.
Gnudi, Cesare. “Introduzione.” In Pittura bolognese del ’ 300 :
Scritti di Francesco Arcangeli, ed. Pier Giovanni Castagnoli,
Alessandro Conti, and Massimo Ferretti. Bologna: Grafi s
Edizioni d’Arte, 1978, pp. 234–239.
Kruft, Hanno-Walter. Altichiero und Avanzo: Untersuchungen zur
oberitalienischen Malerei des ausgehenden Trecento. Bonn:
Rheinishche Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, 1966.
Mellini, Gian Lorenzo. Altichiero e Jacopo Avanzi Milan: Ed-
izioni di Comunità, 1965.
Mommsen, Theodor E. “Petrarch and the Decoration of the Sala
Virorum Illustrium in Padua.” Art Bulletin, 34, 1952, pp.
95–116. (Reprinted in his Medieval and Renaissance Studies.
Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1959, pp. 130–174.)
Pettenella, Plinia. Altichiero e la pittura veronese del Trecento.
Verona: Edizioni di Vita Veronese, 1961.
Sartori, Antonio. “La cappella di S. Giacomo al Santo di Padova.”
Il Santo, 6, 1966, pp. 267–359.
——. “Nota su Altichiero.” Il Santo, 3, 1963, pp. 291–326.ALTICHIERO DA ZEVIO