Biography

Italian painter and illuminator. In 1303, when he dissolved a partnership with the painter Tambo di Serraglio begun the previous year, Pacino was described as 'publicus artifex in arte pictorum'. The polyptych of the Crucifixion with Sts Nicholas, Bartholomew, Florentius and Luke (Florence, Academy), which bears the now incomplete inscription SIMON PRESBYTER S. FLORENTII FECIT PINGI HOC OPUS A PACINO BONAGUIDE ANNO DOMINI MCCCX and which originally stood on the high altar of San Firenze, Florence, is his only signed work; it is painted in an archaic style related to the traditions of the late 13th century with an additional influence from Giotto's early works. After examining many paintings, one scholar in the 1930s rescued Pacino from obscurity; based on close similarities in style, he attributed many paintings to Pacino.

Pacino spent his entire career in Florence, where, in addition to altarpieces, he painted miniatures and decorations for illuminated manuscripts. He is now considered the inventor of miniaturism, a style distinguished by a clear organization of the painting surface into multiple small-scale scenes.

Pacino is last documented c. 1330, when he enrolled in the Arte dei Medici e Speziali in Florence.