Background
Benozzo Gozzoli was born approximately in 1421 in Sant'Ilario a Colombano, Republic of Florence (present-day Scandicci, Italy). He was a son of Benozzo di Lese di Sandro, a tailor, who came from the family of farmers.
Benozzo Gozzoli was born approximately in 1421 in Sant'Ilario a Colombano, Republic of Florence (present-day Scandicci, Italy). He was a son of Benozzo di Lese di Sandro, a tailor, who came from the family of farmers.
In his early years, Benozzo was a pupil of Fra Angelico. Also, he was trained as a goldsmith and painter.
In the early part of Gozzoli’s career, he assisted Fra Angelico on the creation of fresco decorations in the dormitory cells of the Convent of San Marco in Florence. They also collaborated on the creation of "Adoration of the Magi" and the "Women at the Tomb".
During the period from 1444 to 1447, Benozzo worked together with Lorenzo Ghiberti on the famous Gates of Paradise of the Florence Baptistery. Later, in 1447, he continued his collaboration with Fra Angelico — they were both invited by Pope Eugene IV to produce fresco decorations in a chapel in the Vatican Palace. The following year, in 1448, they also created frescoes in Niccoline Chapel.
In 1449, Benozzo stopped collaborating with Angelico and moved to Umbria. In the monastery of San Fortunato, near Montefalco, he painted his work "Madonna and Child with Saints and Angels" and three other works. Benozzo remained in Montefalco (with an interval in Viterbo) probably till 1456, employing Pier Antonio Mezzastris as an assistant. Later, he went to Perugia, where he painted in a church his work "Virgin and Saints".
Upon his return to Florence in 1459, Benozzo began his famous work "Journey of the Magi" for the chapel in the Medici Palace. There, he painted a magnificent cavalcade of pilgrims to Bethlehem, including animated portraits of contemporary Florentines. To represent the Magi, he painted Lorenzo de' Medici and two leaders of the East, Patriarch Joseph and Emperor John Paleologus. Gozzoli depicted them in exotic Middle Eastern dress against a background of fantastic landscape and strange animals.
In 1464, the painter executed some other extensive works. His works from this period include a composition, which depicts Saint Sebastian, protecting the City from the Plague. Also, during the period from 1464 to 1465, Benozzo resided in Certaldo, a small town in the center of the Elsa Valley, near San Gimignano.
In 1469, the painter began the vast series of mural paintings in the Campo Santo of Pisa with which his name is identified. There, he depicted twenty-four subjects from the Old Testament, ranging from the "Invention of Wine by Noah" to the "Visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon". By January 1470, the painter had produced the fresco of Noah and his Family. His other works from this period include the "Curse of Ham", the "Building of the Tower of Babel", the "Destruction of Sodom", the "Victory of Abraham" and others. Also, Gozzoli painted his "Adoration of the Magi" in the Cappella Ammannati in Pisa.
In 1495, after the invasion of Charles VIII to Italy, Gozzoli was forced to leave Pisa and return to Florence. The same year, he traveled to Pistoia, where he received another prestigious commission — the painter was asked to decorate the interior of the Сity Hall with frescoes. However, this work wasn’t finished, as Benozzo died of plague.
Madonna and Child with St. Francis and the donor Fra Jacopo da Montefalco (left) and St. Bernardino of Siena (right)
Tabernacle of the Madonna delle Tosse: Four Evangelists
Saint Ursula with Angels and Donor (detail)
Death of the Knight of Celano
Procession of the Oldest King
St. Augustine Departing for Milan (detail)
Procession of the Magus Caspar (detail)
Trial by Fire Before the Sultan
St. Luke (detail of The Four Evangelists)
St. Francis in Glory and Saints
St. Gimignano
The School of Tagaste
St. Bartolus
The Expulsion of the Devils from Arezzo
Procession of the Magi (detail)
St. Augustine Departing for Milan (detail)
Tabernacle of the Visitation: Annunciation: the Archangel Gabriel
St. Anthony of Padua
Madonna della Cintola
St. Sebastian Intercessor
The Four Evangelists
Procession of the Magus Balthazar (detail)
St. Augustine Leaving His Mother
Death and Ascention of St. Francis
Madonna and Child Surrounded by Saints
View of the Vaults
Preaching to the Birds and Blessing Montefalco (detail)
Dream of Innocent III and the Confirmation of the Rule (detail)
Tabernacle of the Condemned
Scenes from the Life of St. Francis (north wall)
The Dance of Salome (detail)
Trial by Fire Before the Sultan (detail)
The School of Tagaste (detail)
Funeral of St. Augustine
Visit to the Monks of Mount Pisano
St. Francis Giving Away His Clothes, Vision of the Church Militant and Triumphant (detail)
The Dance of Salome (detail)
Procession of the Magus Balthazar (detail)
Dream of Innocent III and the Confirmation of the Rule
Adoration of the Magi
Scenes with St. Ambrose (detail)
Angels Worshipping (detail)
Tabernacle of the Visitation: Meeting at the Golden Gate
Angels Worshipping
Tabernacle of the Madonna delle Tosse: Assumption of the Virgin
Descent from the Cross
Baptism of St. Augustine
Madonna and Child (detail)
Procession of the Magus Balthazar (detail)
St. Augustine's Vision of St. Jerome
Procession of the Magi
Procession of the Magus Caspar (detail)
Tabernacle of the Visitation: Annunciation: Mary
Angel Gathering Flowers in a Heavenly Landscape (detail)
Angels Worshipping (detail)
Martyrdom of St. Sebastian
Scenes from the Life of St. Francis (south wall)
St. Fortunatus Enthroned
Procession of the Magus Caspar (detail)
Angels Worshipping (detail)
Procession of the Magi (detail)
Vision of St. Dominic and Meeting of St. Francis and St. Dominic
Renunciation of Worldly Goods and The Bishop of Assisi Dresses St. Francis
Arrival of St. Augustine in Milan
The Vigil of the Shepherds (detail)
View of the Main Apsidal Chapel
Procession of the Magus Caspar (detail)
Establishment of the Manger at Greccio
Adoration of the Magi
The Triumph of St. Thomas Aquinas
St. Augustine at the University of Carthage
View of the Left Hand Wall of the Chapel
Madonna and Child Enthroned Among St. Benedict, St. Scholastica, St. Ursula and St. John Gualberto
Saint Ursula with Angels and Donor (detail)
Birth of St. Francis, Prophecy of the Birth by a Pilgrim, Homage of the Simple Man
Stigmatization of St. Francis
Procession of the Magus Caspar (detail)
St. Matthew (detail of The Four Evangelists)
Tabernacle of the Madonna delle Tosse: Death of Mary
Conversion of the Heretic
Fall of Simon Magus
Tabernacle of the Visitation: Birth of Mary
Tabernacle of the Visitation: Expultion of Joachim from the Temple
Death of St. Monica
Tabernacle of the Madonna delle Tosse: Maria lactans (detail)
Disembarkation at Ostia
St. Augustine Departing for Milan
Upper Portions of the East (window) Wall
Birth of St. Francis, Prophecy of the Birth by a Pilgrim, Homage of the Simple Man (detail)
Tobias and the Fish
Madonna and Child with Sts John the Baptist, Peter, Jerome, and Paul
The Departure of St. Jerome from Antioch
Madonna and Child Surrounded by Saints
The Dance of Salome
View of the Right Hand Wall of the Chapel
Madonna and Child Giving Blessings
Madonna and Child between St. Francis and St. Bernardine of Siena
View of the Apsidal Chapel of Sant'Agostino. Cycle of St. Augustine
Tabernacle of the Visitation: Annunciation to Joachim
Blessing of the Faithful at Hippo
Preaching to the Birds and Blessing Montefalco
The Raising of Lazarus (detail)
Procession of the Magus Caspar (detail)
Procession of the Magus Balthazar (detail)
Angels Worshipping (detail)
Procession of the Magus Caspar (detail)
Procession of the Magus Balthazar (detail)
San Domenico Annunciation
St. Augustine Reading the Epistle of St. Paul
St. Augustine Reading Rhetoric and Philosophy at the School of Rome
The Dance of Salome (detail)
Procession of the Magus Balthazar (detail)
Raphael and Tobias
The Parable of the Holy Trinity and the Visit to the Monks of Mount Pisano
The Dance of Salome (detail)
Saint Ursula with Angels and Donor (detail)
St. Mark (detail of The Four Evangelists)
The School of Tagaste
Saint Ursula with Angels and Donor (detail)
St. Dominic Reuscitates Napoleone Orsini
Procession of the Magus Balthazar (detail)
St. Sebastian
St. Fina
Saint Ursula with Angels and Donor (detail)
Scenes with St. Ambrose
St. John (detail of The Four Evangelists)
Tabernacle of the Madonna delle Tosse: Maria lactans
Procession of the Magus Balthazar (detail)
St. Jerome Pulling a Thorn from a Lion's Paw
Overall view of the Tabernacle of the Madonna delle Tosse
The Raising of Lazarus
Procession of the Magus Melchior (detail)
Procession of the Magus Caspar (detail)
St. Monica
St. Nicholas of Tolentino
St. Francis Giving Away His Clothes, Vision of the Church Militant and Triumphant
St. Augustine Reading Rhetoric and Philosophy at the School of Rome (detail)
Madonna and Child
St. Nicholas of Bari
The Vintage and Drunkenness of Noah
Benozzo had three sons — Alesso di Benozzo, Gerolamo di Benozzo and Francesco di Benozzo. All of them were painters.