Biography

Lorenzo Monaco's elegant, elongated figures and the graceful, sweeping draperies he clothed them in developed from the Gothic tradition of painting in Florence. He was born in Siena as Piero di Giovanni, but adopted the name Lorenzo when he entered the Florentine Camaldolese Monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli in 1391. He may have trained as an artist in the workshop of Agnolo Gaddi. The first record of him as a painter dates from 1399. His works include altarpieces and frescoes and he may also have illuminated manuscripts.