Lorenzo da Viterbo



Lorenzo da Viterbo was, together with Antoniazzo Romano, the greatest native painter of the early Renaissance (second half of the fifteenth century) in the region of Rome.

He was probably educated in Rome under Piero della Francesca (frescoes in the d'Estouteville chapel in S.Maria Maggiore, 1459).

In 1464-66 ca. he frescoed the chapel (Stories of Christ) and loggia (Illustrious Men) in the Orsini Palace at Tagliacozzo, at the service of the brother dukes Napoleone and Roberto Orsini.

In 1468-69 he frescoed with Stories of the Virgin the Mazzatosta Chapel in the Servite Church of Santa Maria della Verità in Viterbo: the Marriage of the Virgin is an extraordinary, animated portrait of notable contemporary citizens of Viterbo. The frescoes were nearly destroyed during World War II, and have been painstakingly restored.

Lorenzo was in Florence in 1473: his protector, the Sienese Cardinal Jacopo Ammannati Piccolomini, recommended the artist to Lorenzo il Magnifico in a letter written from his villa in Monsindoli in the vicinity of Siena.

The Academy of Fine Arts of Viterbo is named after the painter.