FRANCESCO DI VANNUCCIO
(active 1356-89 in Siena)

Biography

Italian painter, active in Siena. Little is known about his life. His single documented work is an altarpiece in Berlin signed FRANCISCHUS DE VANNUCIO DE SENIS PINSIT HOC OPUS MCCCLXXX. It is a double-sided panel of The Virgin and Child with Saints and a Crucifixion with Saints. His style is largely derived from the most important Sienese artist of the second quarter of the century, Simone Martini.

The corpus of work attributed to him reflects the influence of Simone Martini, probably transmitted through Andrea Vanni and Bartolo di Fredi. Critics noted his 'child-like and playful fantasy' and his whimsically small figures touched with humour.