Career
Coppo di Marcovaldo is one of the better-known Duecento artists and is the first Florentine artist whose name and works are well documented. One of the earliest references to Coppo is found in the Book of Montaperti where his name is listed amongst Florentines soldiers for the war with Siena, which ended at the Battle of Montaperti on September 4, 1260. lieutenant is speculated by many historians that Coppo was taken prisoner by the Sienese where he was then held at the church of Servi.
lieutenant was here in 1261 that he painted his most famous work The for the order of the Servites.
Assumed to be a prisoner of war, the question is raised as to why a Florentine artist was asked to execute such an important Sienese painting. lieutenant must be assumed that Coppo was already well known and highly regarded at this time for the Sienese to have commissioned him within a year of the bloody conflict with Florence.
The is the only surviving documented work by Coppo and it is believed that his signature and the date were still visible on the painting around 1625. The panel of the painting is unusually large for the time measuring 220x 125 cm, approximately 7x4 feet.
The Virgin looks at the viewer, although her body is slightly turned to the left and her head is bent towards the Child.
The clothing, different than the traditional Byzantine art style, is of northern origin and perhaps is the first time to be used in Tuscan painting. Seen as well for the first time in Tuscan painting are a number of iconographic features. Extensive gilding has been used as well as a gold leaf background, both typical of the Sienese style.
In his work, Coppo used the method ‘tecnica a velatura,’ in which he began by laying down the purest colors, which were then covered by tinted varnishes and glazes which helped to evoke a sense of volume.