DOMENICO VENEZIANO,

in full Domenico Di Bartolomeo Da Venezia (active by 1438d. May 15, 1461, Florence ), early Italian Renaissance painter, one of the founders of the 15th-century Florentine school of painting. Domenico was probably first trained in the International Gothic manner in Venice, where it is likely he saw paintings by northern European artists. He settled in Florence about 1439 and, except for brief periods, worked there until his death. Two signed works by Domenico survive. The first, a much-damaged fresco of the Virgin and Child enthroned and two damaged heads of saints (National Gallery, London), formed part of the Carnesecchi Tabernacle and may have been the first work Domenico executed in Florence. Its accurate perspective and the sculptural quality of the figures suggest he was influenced by Masaccio. The second work is an altarpiece for the Church of Santa Lucia dei Magnoli, usually called the Magnoli, or St. Lucy, altarpiece, which was probably painted about 1445. The central panel, the Virgin and Child with four saints (Uffizi, Florence), is one of the outstanding paintings produced in Florence in the middle of the 15th century. It is remarkable for the soft contours of its figures, its fresh and delicate palette, its mastery of light, and its precise and subtle space construction. The five panels of the predella are now dispersed. The Annunciation (Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, Eng.) is the most successful of Domenico's experiments in rendering outdoor light: the pale morning light fills and defines the space of the courtyard, and the cool light on the broad plane of white wall heightens the sense of moment and loneliness in the two figures. A tondo of the Adoration of the Magi (Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin) is of uncertain date. It combines gay colour with careful realism and has an expansive and accurately drawn landscape background. Domenico's two profile portraits of Matteo and Michele Olivieri (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and Rockefeller Collection, New York City) are in the tradition of Pisanello.