Francesco Granacci

Illustration of Francesco Granacci from Le Vite by Giorgio Vasari, edition of 1568
Adoration of the Christ Child, tempera on panel painting by Francesco Granacci, c. 1500, Honolulu Museum of Art

Francesco Granacci (1469 – 30 November 1543) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance.

Born at Villamagna di Volterra, he trained in Florence in the studio of Domenico Ghirlandaio, and was employed painting frescoes for San Marco on commission of Lorenzo de'Medici. He is featured in Giorgio Vasari's Vite.

His early works, such as the Enthroned Madonna between Saint Michael and John the Baptist (Staatliche Museen, Berlin), Adoration of the Child (Honolulu Museum of Art) and four histories of Saint John the Baptist, were influenced by the style of Filippino Lippi.

In 1508, Granacci went to Rome, where he and other artists helped his lifelong friend Michelangelo to transfer cartoons (two-dimensional drawings) to the Sistine chapel ceiling. Returning to Florence, Granacci painted a Madonna with Child with Saints Francesco and Jerome for the Augustinian convent of San Gallo (now in the Gallery of the Academy), a Madonna della Cintola for the Company of San Benedetto Bigi, and in 1515, he participated in creating the decorations to celebrate the visit to Florence of Pope Leo X.

In 1519, he painted a Madonna with Child and Saint John. Works of the years 1520–1525 betray a direct influence of Fra Bartolomeo, including a Madonna Enthroned between Saints Sebastiano and Francesco for Castelfiorentino and a Sacred Conversation for Montemurlo. An altarpiece of the Assumption is influenced by Pietro Perugino. In 1527, Granacci painted the Entry of Charles VIII into Florence and a canvas of the Ten thousand martyrs for the Church of San Simone e Giuda in Florence.

Granacci is buried in the church of Sant'Ambrogio in Florence.

Sources

Holst, Christian von, Francesco Granacci, Bruckmann, München, 1974

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