ODERISI, Roberto d' - b. ~1320 Napoli, d. ~1382 ?

Italian painter, one of the foremost painters in 14th-century Naples. We have few biographical information on this Neapolitan painter. Earlier works by the artist display a knowledge of the Tuscan school of painting and a particular awareness of the innovations of Giotto, who visited Naples with his assistants between 1328 and 1333. However, recent studies have convincingly put back the artistic work of Roberto in the second half of the fourteenth century, thus excluding its direct relationship with the presence of Giotto in Naples. His cultural background of the artist, which in any case was influenced by the paintings executed in Naples by Giotto and especially by Maso di Banco, is not free from a thorough knowledge of the Sienese painting ( Simone Martini and the Lorenzetti).

The first part of his activity in the mid-century could have taken place in the Salerno area, as is attested by the works that critics gathered around the Crucifixion preserved at the Diocesan Museum of Salerno (from the church of San Francesco di Eboli) which is his only signed work. The corpus of this artist was reconstructed on the basis of this work, and a document from 1382 when he was appointed magistrum pictorium regium by King Charles III of Naples.

After 1364 he executed biblical stories and the famous series of the Sacraments and the Triumph of the Church frescoes in the church of Santa Maria Incoronata in Naples. These were derived partly from the art of Simone Martini.

Madonna of Humility

Madonna of Humility refers to artistic portrayals of the Virgin Mary which depict her as a Madonna sitting on the ground, or sitting upon a low cushion. She may be holding the Child Jesus in her lap. The panel by Roberto d’Oderisi is from the San Domenico Maggiore in Naples.

Pietà

This Pietà is a late work by Roberto d’Oderisi, one of the foremost painters in 14th-century Naples. Two other versions of this composition are known.

In the execution of the late Pietà panel, Oderisi appears to have abandoned the advances made in his earlier works in spatial perception. It seems to reflect a conscious reversion to a more traditional Neapolitan style.