Thesis abstract:

This study is the first thorough investigation into the work of Matteo Giovannetti of Viterbo (c. 1322-1368/9) since Enrico Castelnuovo’s canonical account of the artist’s life and work from 1962 – the only in-depth research which exists today. This lack of research comes despite Matteo having been given the honorific of Pictor Papes (painter of the popes) during the painter’s lifetime, mentioned as such in the many archival documents that exist from the Avignon papacy. Matteo was summoned to Avignon at the request of Pope Clement VI in the 1340s. During this time, vast sums were spent on the building and decorative programmes at the papal palaces in Avignon in a bid to legitimise the city as the new centre of the Church. Unusually for the trecento, we find that the curial archival documents are extensive. They tell of a rich and varied artistic community, detailing the activities of many artists and their workshops, including that of Matteo. Castelnuovo’s research built on these archival documents to piece together the bigger picture of the way this community of artists interacted with the large and wealthy papal court at Avignon.

Avignon, as a junction between France and Italy, was a place where currents of the multiple cultures crossed – a site of migration, growth and renewal after the arrival of the papal court in 1305. This made for a highly cosmopolitan environment, with knowledge from French manuscript and literary traditions intermingling with new Italian conceptions of art and literature which were building to form the nascent humanist movement. Through the study of Matteo this dissertation will analyse how these various threads were brought together in his work to form his unique style. Matteo’s approach to arrangement, materiality and the theological image was one rich with Gothic sensibility, an influence which was not available on the Italian peninsula to the same degree. This thesis, by examining principally the most intact and rich works in the St Martial chapel and the Sts John chapel, builds on the work by Castelnuovo to form an understanding of the unique and influential style wielded by Matteo. From this, his unique style developed, echoing out throughout France, Italy and Europe.