M. Giancarli - An addition to Raffaellino del Colle: from Rosso Fiorentino to the Alberti family of Sansepolcro

After returning from Rome around 1524-1525, Raffaellino painted the Resurrection for the Cathedral in Sansepolcro, still under the influence of Raphael and Giulio Romano. This and other assignments testify that Raffaellino became the most active artist in the city in that period. Information contained in the diaries of Berto Alberti and the wooden crucifixes or frames belonging to members of the Alberti family, which can be found in the churches where Raffaellino worked, suggest that the group of artists had created a society. There are interesting cases of this collaboration in Sansepolcro, Umbria and Marche.

In 1527, Raffaellino met Rosso Fiorentino, who was fleeing from the Sack of Rome. As a result of this meeting, the painter changed his style. This transformation can be seen in the Assumption and Coronation in the Museo Civico of Sansepolcro, which is stylistically very different from the Sellari Annunciation in Città di Castello. Belonging to the same period is a Holy Family with St. John and St. Elisabeth, which is kept in the Pinacoteca Civica in Forlì and is here proposed to be attributed to Raffaellino del Colle.

Raffaellino del Colle, Francesco Menzocchi, Alberto Alberti, Rosso Fiorentino, Benedetto Nucci, Alberti family, Forlì, Sansepolcro, Città di Castello, Gubbio, Mannerism, Carving, Painting