PIERMATTEO D'AMELIA - b. ~1450 Amelia, d. ~1502 Firenze

Piermatteo Lauro de’ Manfredi da Amelia, Italian painter. In 1467-69 he collaborated with Filippo Lippi in the decoration of the apse of the Duomo of Spoleto. He also worked in Perugia, Orvieto and Rome. In Rome in 1479-80 he decorated the vault of the Sistine Chapel (gold stars on blue ground). Among his other works the Pala dei Francescani in Terni, and an Annunciation could be mentioned.

An anonymous master, referred to as Master of the Gardner Annunciation (named after a panel in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston) was later identified with this painter, when a contract from 1483 was found in which Piermatteo da Amelia was commissioned to execute the Pala dei Francescani.

Madonna and Child

The painter of this panel formerly was known as the Master of the Gardner Annunciation.

This panel is the central section of a large triptych whose wings - Mary Magdalen and John the Baptist - are at Altenburg. Jesus holds a pomegranate, offering a seed to his Mother; the fruit symbolizes Christian fertility and unity.