Michele Giambono

St. Chrysogonus on Horseback (c. 1450) San Trovaso, Venice In a painting representative of the International Gothic style, a youthful St. Chrysogonus wears a suit of armor and a cloak embroidered with a raised black and gold pattern while mounted on a richly-caparisoned horse. The posture and color of the white horse is highlighted by the dark green trees that serve as a background in the lower half of the picture. Above the trees, the sky is represented by a gold ground that gives lightness to the painting. The emblems on the shield, flag and the presence of angels in the top corners of the painting generates a Christian theme with the Saint in a protective role. The "tense pose of the Saint", suggested movement of the horse, and the flowing shape of the pennant and cloak provides an emotional force that is not seen in comparable paintings of this time period. Virgin and Child (c. 1450) Galleria Franchetti, Ca' d'Oro, Venice The figures are dressed in solid colors and are silhouetted against the brocaded textile in the background. The Virgin's angular facial features and serious expression contrast with the rounded features of the Christ-Child. The child is holding a goldfinch that represents a “premonition of the Passion". The richly decorated velvet background features pomegranates, a fruit closely “associated with blood, death and resurrection”. Textiles featuring pomegranate fruit in the pattern were widely adopted by Italians and are typically found in ecclesiastical and courtly depictions. Giambono was among the first Italian artists to use the iconographic meaning of these textiles in a Christian context. Portrait of a Man (1432–1434) Palazzo Rosso, Genoa Movement: Renaissance (Early Italian, “quattrocentro”), Theme: Portrait, Technique: Tempera and silver on wood, Size: 53 x 40 cm The painting is important as one of the very few surviving examples of a Venetian portrait from the early 15th century. The unknown subject is dressed in an ornately decorated velvet robe with the neck opening lined with fur. The man wears an oversized hat and a doublet with a high collar worn under the robe. The dress and facial features of the man suggest the subject is not Italian, but rather a northern European who was living in Venice. The portrait has also been attributed to Gentile de Fabriano and Pisanello, but the generalized facial characteristics set “against a uniform bluish background are typical of Giambono's work". Polyptych of St. James (c. 1450) Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice The polyptych has five panels each featuring a religious saint. St. James the Greater occupies the larger central panel with St John the Evangelist and St Filippo Benizzi situated to the left, is St Michael the Archangel and St Louis of Toulouse are to the right of the central panel. The highly detailed figures provide a “slow semicircular rhythm” to the polyptych. Each figure is painted in bold solid colors contrasting against a gold ground. The depiction of the Archangel Michael in his heavy armor decorated with gold, his pale face and mass of curls, particularly reflects the strong influence of Pisanello. The Man of Sorrows (ca. 1420–1430) Metropolitan Museum, New York Movement: Renaissance (Early Italian, “quattrocentro”) Theme: New Testament Technique: Tempera and gold on wood Size: 47 x 31.1 cm The Man of Sorrows depicts the small figure of Saint Francis at the left side of the picture expressing his grief over Christ's Crucifixion. Christ is positioned in an open tomb with a gash on the right side of his abdomen caused by a lance and wounds to his hands resulting from crucifixion. “Although Christ is unquestionably dead, there is still energy in his partly lowered head and extended arms. Streams of blood, sculpted in thick gesso, gush from wounds carved into the panel”. St. Francis is receiving the stigmata that come from the wounds of Christ. Coronation of the Virgin (c. 1448) Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice Coronation of the Virgin, also known as Paradise, was “commissioned from Giambono in 1447 by Giovanni Dotto”. The work was originally destined for the Church of S. Agnese but is currently located in the Gallerie dell’ Accademia, Venice. Giovani Dotto stipulated that the painting be similar to the one previously painted by Antonio Vivarini and Giovanni d'Alemagna for the church of San Pantalon, Venice.

Giambono was active as an artist between 1420 and 1462 and was a follower of Jacobello del Fiore (c. 1385 – c. 1439), Gentile da Fabriano (c. 1360- c 1450) Pisanello.