Wether Masaccio’s fresh rational style can be linked with specific
class groups in early quattrocento Florence, as argued by Antal is moot.[1]
Certainly a comparison between Masaccio’s Adoration of the Magi (Pisan
altarpiece, 1426-7) and the same subject by Gentile da Fabriano (comm. By Palla
Strozzi, c. 1370- 1427) along stylistic lines suggests different tastes. It
would be tempting to see the paring down of figures and objects to the
essentials in the Masaccio implying a more modest, even “puritanical”
clientele. As Antal observed, only one of the kings is dressed in the finery of
Florentine youth; whilst the other two, one of whom is the patron, the notary
Giuliano di Colino, wear the more sub-fusc dress code of wealthy burghers. Antal
is on firmer ground with his claim that Gentile’s Adoration is a social
tapestry with “self-illustrations of the rich, and as such are especially well
adapted to serve as a reflection of the ideology of the ruling class.”[2] Gentile, a well-travelled artist moved in
aristocratic circles, and according to Antal, absorbed the “knightly culture of
France” which was enthusiastically welcomed amongst the Florentine upper-
middle class. It was at this juncture
that Gentile, in Florence from 1422-5- painted the Adoration for Palla
Strozzi, father-in-law of Felice Brancacci who commissioned the Carmine
frescoes from Masaccio. The luxury is
more French than Florentine; it reflects the influence of the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry than
the jeunesse dorée (gilded youth) of Florence.
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Masaccio, Adoration of the Magi, 1426, Tempera
on poplar, 21 x 61 cm, Staatliche Museen, Berlin.
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Gentile di Fabriano Adoration of the Magi, Tempera
on wood, 300 x 282 cm, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
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