Giovanni d'Alemagna

Madonna and Child with Saints Gregory and Jerome (left), Ambrose and Augustine (right)
Triptych by Giovanni d'Alemagna and Antonio Vivarini (1446), Gallerie dell'Accademia

Giovanni d'Alemagna (ca. 1411 - died 1450) was a German painter, active in Italy, who collaborated with his brother-in-law Antonio Vivarini on various important religious paintings in Venice and Padua.

Although it is difficult to distinguish the two artists' contributions, Giovanni is associated with the St Jerome (1444), which carries the signature 'Johannes'. This painting suggests that Giovanni's work was generally flatter and more decorative than Antonio's more naturalistic style.

Giovanni d'Alemagna and Antonio Vivarini ran an extremely well organized shop in Venice that specialized in multi-tiered, multi-paneled altarpieces and fanciful Gothic frames, which they subcontracted to various woodworkers.

In 1446 Giovanni and Antonio signed and dated the triptych representing the Madonna and Child with Saints for the wall behind the officers' bench of the recently expanded meeting room of the Scuola della Carità (now part of the Gallerie dell'Accademia). Resembling an altarpiece but functioning as an inducement to good decision making, this monumental painting shows the four doctors of the Church (Sts Gregory and Jerome at the left, Ambrose and Augustine at the right) in a courtyard around a massive Madonna and Child. The Virgin's celestial court is vividly rendered with marbled pink and grey architecture, rich deep colours, costly robes, and lovingly observed plant life.

In 1448 he started working, together with Vivarini and Andrea Mantegna, in the decoration of the Ovetari Chapel in Padua, but died soon afterwards.

References

• "Giovanni d'Alemagna: Information from Answers.com." Answers.com - Online Dictionary, Encyclopedia and much more. 28 Apr. 2009 <http://www.answers.com/topic/giovanni-d-alemagna>.
• Humfrey, Peter. Painting in Renaissance Venice. Yale UP, 1997.