Italian painter who came from a side-branch of one of the most important Florentine families. He was a pupil and employee of many years of Fra Angelico on whom he was stylistically dependent. Vasari remembers him as one of the first and most faithful followers of Fra Angelico and indeed he is documented several times in Angelico’s workshop, in the convent of San Domenico in Fiesole, during the 1430s. He was mainly active as book illuminator.
This manuscript is one of the most pleasing books of hours to have been made in Florence in the mid-fifteenth century. It contains 278 folios with 17 illuminations by Zanobi Strozzi, which are masterpieces of the genre.
The picture shows folios 14v and 15r. The full-page illumination on folio 14v represents the Annunciation. On folio 15r the Nativity is depicted in an initial D. Below, six putti support a quatrefoil with the Adimari coat of arms. The Adimari were a large and prominent Florentine family, and any one of a number of them could have commissioned this book.
This manuscript is one of the most pleasing books of hours to have been made in Florence in the mid-fifteenth century. It contains 278 folios with 17 illuminations by Zanobi Strozzi, which are masterpieces of the genre.
The picture shows folios 169v-170r. The most original illumination in the book is the full page (folio 169v) with the young David at the beginning of the penitential psalms. Sling and machete in one hand and the severed head of the Philistine Goliath in the other, he stands triumphant on top of the giant’s armoured body. The more traditional illustration for this section of the book of hours, which shows the contrite and elderly David praying in the wilderness, is included in the initial D on the opposite page. The triumphant young David is typically Florentine image, Florentines of the period related him to their republican self-image.
This small manuscript with 235 folios contains 2 full-page miniatures, one of them (The Coronation of the Virgin on folio 71v) is by Zanobi Strozzi. Around the scene of the Coronation, there are a foliate and floral border with a putto wielding a spear, a dog biting the tail of a hare, and two putti opening a book.
Several choral books were produced in the workshop of Lorenzo Monaco. In Corale 3 (Diurno Domenicale 3) several miniatures can be attributed to Zanobi Strozzi, suggested by the strongly shadowed modelling, opaque colours and elongated facial features. Zanobi Strozzi was an associate of Fra Angelico.
In the initial shown here Camaldolese friars in choir are depicted.
Several choral books were produced in the workshop of Lorenzo Monaco. In Corale 3 (Diurno Domenicale 3) several miniatures can be attributed to Zanobi Strozzi, suggested by the strongly shadowed modelling, opaque colours and elongated facial features. Zanobi Strozzi was an associate of Fra Angelico.
In the initial shown here the Dance of King David before the Ark of the Covenant is depicted.
Several choral books were produced in the workshop of Lorenzo Monaco. In Corale 3 (Diurno Domenicale 3) several miniatures can be attributed to Zanobi Strozzi, suggested by the strongly shadowed modelling, opaque colours and elongated facial features. Zanobi Strozzi was an associate of Fra Angelico.
The initial on folio 15 shows the figure of Christ calling the blessed.
Zanobi executed this painting in the workshop of Fra Angelico. He used a cartoon (drawing to scale), possibly one provided by Fra Angelico. However, his figures lack Angelico’s delicate grace, and their facial features are closely spaced and linear. His colours fail to display the subtle range of the master’s work.
The Virgin is sitting on a gold-embroidered red cushion, embellished with two tassels. She is wearing a red dress and blue cloak with green edging; a veil of a beautiful violet colour falls from her head with a star attached. This attribute derives from stella maris, the Latin translation of the Hebrew name for Mary, Miriam. In her right hand she holds a white lily, symbol of purity, while her left rests on the Child’s shoulder as he sits in her lap. Low down two musician angels are playing a viola da braccio and a portable organ, with absorbed melancholic expressions. A golden cloth hangs in the background, made with a gold leaf splendidly incised to imitate the softness and weft of the material.
Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 6 minutes):
Josquin Desprez: Benedicta es coelorum Regina, motet
This image was cut from a psalter. Little of the initial B’s decoration has survived its removal from the manuscript. The miniature shows the kneeling psalmist David receiving God’s blessing. His kingly crown and psalmist’s harp lie on the ground by him as evidence of the humbleness of his supplication.
This manuscript important manuscript was dismembered in the 18th century. The only important leaf that remains in the codex is folio 3, which is attributed to Zanobi Strozzi. It is the frontispiece to the text, decorated with a sumptuous border of white vine scrolling, framing warriors, putti and animals set within a continuous series of medallions. In the initial a crowned condottiere is set against a landscape of hills and cypresses.
Of the leaves that were removed, one was recovered and reunited with the manuscript. Its illustration is the work of Pesellino, it shows Mars on a two-wheeled chariot. Pesellino is thought to have executed the other miniatures that are now lost.
This painting belongs to the predella of the Annalena Altarpiece by Fra Angelico. Zanobi Strozzi was employed by the workshop which Fra Angelico and his brother, the scribe Fra Benedetto, had established at San Domenico di Fiesole.
This panel was probably an independent picture or a wing of a diptych of which the other panel is lost.
