Watercolour, copy after the cycle of the Life of St Francis (Birth of St Francis), Benozzo Gozzoli in San Francesco, apsidal chapel (Montefalco), Eliseo Fattorini, Arundel Society watercolour, 1872

Watercolour showing a scene taking place in a medieval town. On the left, in an interior space with six figures and two animals, is represented the birth of Saint Francis (shown as a baby with an aureole). On the right, in an exterior scene with five figures, a pilgrim with a halo (Jesus Christ) is climbing the stairs of a house.

Acquired in 1995 from the National Gallery of London.
Watercolour copy made for the Arundel Society, not published.

This watercolour is a copy made in 1872 for the Arundel Society by Eliseo Fattorini (1820-1895) after one of the frescoes (Birth of St Francis) representing episodes of the Life of Saint Francis painted by Benozzo Gozzoli (1420-1497) in 1452 in the church of San Francesco in Montefalco.

Original work
Benozzo Gozzoli was first the apprentice to the famous painter Fra Angelico (1395-1455; for copies after Fra Angelico made for the Arundel Society see Museum nos. E.4 to 18-1995), whom he assisted in the 1440s in painting frescoes cycles in the monastery of San Marco (Florence), in San Brizio chapel in the Duomo of Orvieto and in the Niccoline chapel in the Vatican. Gozzoli’s independent career as a painter started in 1450 when he moved to Montefalco, a small town in the province of Perugia in Umbria (Italy). During the following three years (1450-52) he worked intensely, first in the church of San Fortunato, then in the church of San Francesco.

After completing his work in San Fortunato, Gozzoli began painting the fresco cycle depicting episodes of the Life of Saint Francis in the apse of the Gothic church of San Francesco. This was to be his first masterpiece. The cycle, dated 1452, bears the painter’s signature. The original decoration is organised on four wall panels (two on the North side, and two on the South side), each one divided in three scenes (two bands and one lunette). Hence, there are twelve scenes in total, but representing sixteen episodes in the life of the saint (several frescoes combined two episodes). Gozzoli only depicted episodes taken from the saint’s lifetime, omitting the posthumous miracles.

It is thought that Gozzoli had previously seen the celebrated frescoes also representing the Life of Saint Francis, painted by Giotto in Assisi (see Nessi 1997, pp. 47-48; for copies after these frescoes made for the Arundel Society see Museum no. E.129-1995). Gozzoli, however, was little influenced by Giotto’s cycle. In order to give a better understanding of the scenes, Gozzoli placed them in contemporary architecture and landscape, “resulting, in both cases, in the construction of perspectives views that are not impeccable, but clear and carefully executed” (Acidini Luchinat 1994, p. 18).

Just after the decoration of the apse, Gozzoli was commissioned to paint a final mural decoration in San Girolamo chapel (the first chapel on the right in San Francesco). It consist of the Evangelists on the vault, a mock altarpiece, several scenes of the Life of Saint Jerome, a Crucifixion and a Christ blessing. The mock polyptych (copied and published for the Arundel Society, Museum no. E.152-1995) is considered the most remarkable painting of this chapel. The mock altarpiece, depicted with the utmost illusionism, is enclosed in a Gothic structured frame with an ‘all’antica’ style, showing therefore some aspects of the new modern taste for the Antique.

Arundel Society
The Arundel Society was founded in 1848 to promote knowledge of the art through the publication of reproductions of works of art. The Society was named after Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Arundel (1585-1646), important aristocratic patron and collector of the early Stuart period. The Society was intended to reach the largest possible audience through these reproductions. Subjects were chosen because of their instructive meaning rather than their popularity. In addition to copies of famous paintings, the Society published an English translation of Giorgio Vasari’s Lives of the most excellent painters, made in 1850 by Giovanni Aubrey Bezzi (1785-1789), one of the founding members of the Society.

The Arundel Society popularised Renaissance art, particularly that of the Italian Old Masters, echoing a growing interest for ‘primitives’ in the second half of the nineteenth century. The founding members of the Arundel Society were all acknowledge experts on Italian art. For instance, Sir Charles Eastlake (1793–1865; painter and art administrator), whose house was the meeting point of the Society, was Director of the National Gallery in London from 1855 until 1865 and during his tenure, he began one of the finest collections of Italian art in Britain.

Other preeminent members were John Ruskin (1819-1900, English writer, painter and collector), who supervised projects including the watercolours series of the Upper and Lower Church in Assisi, and Sir Austen H. Layard (1817-1894; English archaeologist, politician, diplomat, collector and writer). Layard lived and travelled in Italy for many years and his knowledge of the country’s art was extensive. It was thanks to Layard’s funding that the Society were able to publish copies of the watercolours made at their direction using chromolithography. Although photography was increasingly popular, as photographs could only be made in black and white, chromolithography was chosen as it was felt to be closer to the principals of the Arundel Society: they were coloured and had the aura of traditional prints. In this way, copies were more like the originals.

The Society reached the height of its popularity in the 1860s. However, by the end of the century, it faced mounting criticism with regards to the accuracy of its watercolour copies. The Society ceased its activities in 1897. At this time the availability of second hand prints had increased and the Society found it difficult to find market for its chromolithographs. Moreover, photographic reproductions were becoming increasingly popular thanks to technical advances. The last display of the Arundel Society’s watercolours took place at the National Gallery and when the Society was dissolved, some watercolours were given to that Institution, while others were acquired by the then South Kensington Museum (now V&A). The outstanding watercolours were transferred from the National Gallery to the V&A in the 1990s.

Arundel Society’s choices
In 1872, the Arundel Society commissioned Eliseo Fattorini to copy several frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli in the church of San Francesco in Montefalco. Four were taken from the apse (one complete wall panel [Museum no. E.153-1995] and three other scenes taken from the other panels [Museum nos. E.154 to 156-1995]), while the fifth was a copy after the mock altarpiece in San Girolamo chapel (Museum no. E.152-1995). The reasoning behind the decision to copy these panels is unclear. Arguably the most important episodes from the life of Saint Francis, such as his Stigmatization or Death were not included in the Arundel commission.

The four watercolour copies made from Gozzoli’s Life of Saint Francis cycle remained unpublished. Only the copy after the mock polyptych in San Girolamo chapel was published in 1878. Rather than copying the entire back wall of the chapel, Fattorini only represented the altarpiece detail. In consequence, it became almost impossible to understand from the watercolour copy that it was a mock altarpiece and not a real one.

It should be noted that no copy of Gozzoli’s works painted in San Fortunato were commissioned by the Arundel Society. This can be explained by several circumstances. The altarpiece (moved to Rome in 1848) and the fresco representing Saint Fortunatus enthroned were traditionally given to Fra Angelico and had only very recently been attributed to Gozzoli by Giovanni Battista Cavastelle (Crowe, Cavastelle 1864, II, p. 499). As for the fresco painting showing Madonna enthroned and Child with Angel (signed), only half of it remained and was extremely damaged.

Gozzoli’s first biographer, Giorgio Vasari, gave the painter scant praise (Acidini Luchinat 1994, p. 4). The idea that Gozzoli was an extremely pleasant painter but somehow caught in an old-fashioned Gothic manner persisted along the centuries. At the time of the Arundel Society, no specific study had yet been dedicated to him. Studies only began to appear at the very end of the Nineteenth century and the first text in English was first published in 1904 (Strokes, 1904).

Despite his scarce fame, the Arundel Society committee seems to have shown a recurring interest in the painter, perhaps because he had been Fra Angelico’s assistant or possibly because of his highly decorative style. Consequently, in around two decades, the Society commissioned as many as twenty-one watercolour copies after Gozzoli (more than Fra Angelico [20 copies] or Ghirlandaio [18 copies]) to three different copyists.

Three main fresco cycles interested the society. Six watercolours after the Life of Sant’Agostino in the church of Sant’Agostino in San Gimignano were first copied in 1863 by Cesare Mariannecci (Museum no. 2804, E.166-1995 to E.170-1995), while Fattorini’s copies of the Life of Saint Francis were made in 1872. The last cycle to be copied was the Magi chapel in the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi in Florence (Museum no. E.157 to 165-1995), around 1881 by Edward Kaiser.

Copyist
Eliseo Fattorini (1830-1887) was an artist and restorer, who had been trained in Perugia (Umbria, Italy). His first commission for the Arundel Society was the copy of Luca Signorelli’s fresco painting in the Sistine Chapel in 1869 (Museum no. E.279-1995). He then continued, in the 1870s, to make copies after works by Botticelli, Perugino, Cosimo Rosselli and several other painters of the Italian High Renaissance. In ten years, he made twenty-nine watercolour copies for the Arundel Society of which only eleven seem to have then been published.
The Arundel Society was uncertain about the standard of accuracy of its copyist. An unusual characteristic of Fattorini’s work was a tendency to alter the colour of the originals, giving them a pinkish tint.

This watercolour is a copy made in 1872 by Eliseo Fattorini (1820-1895) after Benozzo Gozzoli’s fresco cycle depicting the most important stages and deeds from the Life of Saint Francis. These fresco paintings were painted in 1452 by Benozzo Gozzoli (1420-1497) in the apse of the church of San Francesco in Montefalco (Umbria, Italy).

Fattorini’s four copies after these fresco paintings (Museum nos. E.153 to 156-1995) were commissioned by the Arundel Society. Founded in 1848, the society commissioned and published reproductions like this one in order to promote knowledge of the art European Old Masters. However, none of the Montefalco copies were ever published.

E.155-1995