PAOLO VENEZIANO

Italian painter and possibly illuminator. He was by far the most prolific and influential Venetian painter of the early 14th century, as well as the only artist of the century who may be considered the official painter of the Republic.

He was the principal painter working in the Byzantine style in 14th-century Venice. In 1358 he and his son Giovanni jointly signed a Coronation of the Virgin (New York, Frick Collection) which is the last known work by him, but another Coronation (Washington, National Gallery) attributed to him is dated 1324. His son Luca was also a painter and the father and both sons jointly signed the cover which they made for the Paliotto, the Pala d’Oro, in St Mark’s in 1345.