Gubbio, known as Agobbio in the Middle Ages, was a highly significant political and cultural centre which had an extraordinary artistic flowering between the end of the thirteenth and the first half of the fourteenth century. This was thanks to the presence of a well-established local school of painting abreast with all the latest developments in style and technique emerging from two of the most important centres of art of the time, Assisi and Siena.
It was none other than Dante Alighieri who confirmed this important role for Gubbio when in the Purgatorio he mentioned Odirisi da Gubbio, who he considered to be the most talented miniaturist of the time. Three generations of painters from Gubbio were trained in Assisi, the greatest artistic workshop in medieval Europe, as they worked side by side with the great Masters engaged in decorating the Basilica di San Francesco. Odirisi’s father, Guido di Pietro, who is known as the Maestro dei Crocefissi Francescani, had to measure himself against the Byzantine or Greek manner of Giunta Pisano as he painted frescoes, wood panels and illuminated manuscripts. A beneficiary of this refined thirteenth century tradition of painting was the Maestro della Croce di Gubbio who was active in Gubbio and other Umbrian towns between the end of the thirteenth and the beginning of the fourteenth century, with a flourishing workshop specialising in painted crucifixes, Maestas and Enthroned Madonnas with Child, either frescoed or painted on panel. His eclectic style was the result of a complex apprenticeship rooted in local tradition but later brought to maturity under the influence of the skilled artists belonging to Cimabue’s workshop and the Roman School and then Giotto in his early period. His name derives from a painted Crucifix now housed in the Civic Museum in Palazzo dei Consoli which is an exquisite work embellished with ornamentation in gold and silver foil. It is proof of the existence of multi-skilled workshops with painters and miniaturists capable of producing religious artefacts of great artistic value. Following the example of Giotto’s Crucifix in Santa Maria Novella in Florence, the portrayal is a modern one showing the suffering Christ in all His humanity. Giotto’s naturalism was also fundamental to the artistic development of Palmerino di Guido, who was Giotto’s principal assistant in Assisi. He is known as the Maestro Espressionista di Santa Chiara and was active, mainly in Gubbio and Assisi, between the closing years of the 13th century and the first three decades of the 14th century. His style was more immediate and popular with great emphasis on pathos and sentiment. The works he created in Gubbio belong to a later stage of his production and show the influence of Sienese art. Notable examples from this period are the elegant polyptych in the Civic Museum showing the Madonna and Child among Saints, the frescoes in the Sforzolini Chapel in the Church of San Francesco and the Maestà dei Laici, in the Diocesan Museum. Also worthy of note are the remaining paintings on panel from the ancient ark of Saint Ubaldo, most of which have been lost. Painting in Gubbio between the second decade and the middle of the 14th century was dominated by the figures of Mello da Gubbio and Guiduccio Palmerucci, both of whom were adherents of the Sienese style of Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti, but each of whom developed this in an individual way. Guiduccio Palmerucci was the son of Palmerino di Guido and is distinctive for his elegant figures enhanced by the solemnity of their depiction. He produced both mural paintings and elaborate altarpieces, enriched by a gold background, like the one he made for the chapel in Palazzo dei Consoli depicting the Madonna and Child with the Patron Saints of Gubbio. Mello da Gubbio was the founder of a dynasty of painters who continued to produce work until the middle of the 15th century. He adapted the Sienese style to a more familiar and approachable manner. His style is characterised by the accentuated plasticity and strong colouring of the faces, intricate hairstyles and a refined and sophisticated decoration which anticipates Late Gothic culture. His works exhibited in the Civic Museum mainly feature the Madonna and Child but there is also the fresco painted for the Chapel in Palazzo dei Consoli which was an important commission carried out between 1350-1354 during the lordship of Giovanni di Cantuccio Gabrielli. It is an example of celebratory art commemorating a significant event in the life of the town. The famous Agnano Altarpiece, which bears his signature and is fundamental to the reconstruction of his artistic career, is now on display in the Diocesan Museum together with the Valdichiascio Madonna, both of which are examples of his later work.