CECCARELLI, Naddo - b. ~1320 Siena, d. ~1360 Siena

Naddo (also Nardo) Ceccarelli was a Late Gothic Italian painter belonging to the Sienese school. Due to lack of historical or written sources, little is known of his life and work. Knowledge of his existence is based solely on two paintings signed by him, one of which is dated 1347, one year before the devastating plague. His signature also provides information concerning his origin in Siena.

Ceccarelli is considered as a direct successor of Simone Martini, one of the grand masters of the Siena School. In 1339 Ceccarelli appears to have accompanied him to the Papal Court in Avignon. Following the death of Simone, Ceccarelli may have returned to Siena. He remained true to the Sienese painting tradition and its representatives Duccio and Simone Martini, whose soft linear painting style he continued.

Man of Sorrows

This panel, probably intended for private devotion, shows the dead Christ as a half-length figure standing in the sarcophagus in a manner typical of icon painting.A lavishly embroidered cloth lines the sarcophagus, an allusion to the altar covering. In the panel the painter combines a finely worked gold ground with attempts at three-dimensional presentation. The richly ornamented frame contains eight round medallions with portraits of saints that look like miniature icons. Ceccarelli placed his signature conspicuously on the front of the sarcophagus.