Parution : Anabel Thomas, “The Art and Government Service of Francesco di Bartolomeo Alfei : Visual Propaganda and Undercover Agency for the Republic of Siena”, Amsterdam, Amsterdam University Press, 2023
In 1454 the Sienese painter Francesco di Bartolomeo Alfei faced litigation from the Mercanzia in Siena for defaulting on a contract from one of the leading Franciscan confraternities in the city. Two fellow Sienese artists, Giovanni di Paolo and Sano di Pietro, had recently completed a new altarpiece for the same entity. Anabel Thomas considers how the two commissions were linked and questions why Francesco di Bartolomeo Alfei’s brief to fresco the confraternity chapel remained unfinished. In...