View of the Cappella di Isotta

By 1449 Matteo was resident in Rimini, where he married Elisa di Giovanni Baldigara. There he was joined by Agostino di Duccio and other Venetian sculptors, working on the construction and decoration of two large funerary chapels (1447-c. 1452) for Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, Lord of Rimini, and his mistress, Isotta degli Atti, in San Francesco (known as the Tempio Malatestiano). Initially Matteo was probably the organizer and supervisor of this project, but c. 1450 Sigismondo decided to rebuild the church and entrusted the project to Leon Battista Alberti. Matteo, however, continued to work there, and the scheme for the interior decoration, in a gothicizing, Venetian style, is his work; originally an inscription naming de’ Pasti as architect ran across an architrave.

The Chapel of Isotta houses the tomb of Isotta degli Atti, Pandolfo Malatesta’s lover and later his wife. The chapel is decorated with reliefs of music-making angels. The reliefs are controlled by a subtle sense for placing the image in its frame. Animated figures are shown in motion.

This chapel also houses Giotto’s Crucifix painted during his sojourn in Rimini.