The Emergence of a Florentine Painter
Bartolomeo Ghetti, also known as Baccio di Zanobi Ghetti, was a Florentine Renaissance painter who has recently emerged from obscurity through art historical research. Described by Vasari as a pupil of Ghirlandaio, his career involved significant movement between Italy and France. Documentation indicates he worked at the court of King Francois I, where he served as a court painter and valet de chambre. His presence in France is recorded through various payment records, including work performed between 1519 and 1532.
In addition to his work as a painter, Ghetti was an illuminator of manuscripts. His artistic style is characterized by:
Works and Commissions
Ghetti's surviving body of work includes several paintings and illuminations. His largest known work is an altarpiece in the Collegiata of Fucecchio, featuring a Madonna and Child with Saints John the Baptist, Mark, Andrew and Peter and a Baptism of Christ. This work consists of a lower panel and a lunette. Another significant work is a frescoed lunette depicting the Madonna and Child at the church of San Pietro a Selva, near Malmantile.
His commissions in France included:
