( fl Florence, early 15th century). Italian painter, possibly identified as STARNINA. Sirén (1904) assembled a group of paintings under the name the Master of the Bambino Vispo. These included the Virgin and Child with Saints and Angels (Florence, Accad.), the Virgin of Humility (Philadelphia, PA, Mus. A.), a triptych of the Virgin and Child with Music-making Angels and Four Saints (Rome, Pal. Doria-Pamphili) and an altarpiece wing with SS Mary Magdalene and Lawrence and a Cardinal Donor (Berlin, Bodemus.). He chose the name on account of the particularly lively expression and movement of the Christ Child in the paintings. He associated the altar wing with a documented altarpiece of St Lawrence, which, it was then believed, had been donated to Florence Cathedral by Cardinal Pietro Corsini in 1422. This date provided the starting-point from which to relate the Master to other 15th-century Florentine painters. Sirén believed the painter to be a distant follower of Lorenzo Monaco and noted his apparent interest in the psychology of the figures as well as a marked sense for the decorative that set him apart from his contemporaries. The Master was accepted by art historians, but Sirén’s attempts to identify the painter with Pietro di Domenico da Montepulciano or Parri Spinelli were not seriously pursued. The question was raised as to whether the Master’s obvious indebtedness to the Late Gothic style could be explained solely by the influence of Lorenzo Monaco, or whether it might result from direct contact with the centres of Late Gothic painting, particularly Valencia.

Part of the Masters, anonymous, and monogrammists family

• Bambino Vispo, Master of the
  • Alcanyis, Miguel
  • Starnina, Gherardo
  • works
    • Cassone, §1(i): Painted: Florence
    • Islamic art, §VI, 2(ii)(b): Fabrics, c 1250–c 1500: Egypt and Syria