Coppo di Marcovaldo

Coppo di Marcovaldo (c. 1225 – c. 1276) was a Florentine painter in the Italo-Byzantine style, active in the middle of the thirteenth century, whose fusion of both the Italian and Byzantine styles had great influence on generations of Italian artists.

Coppo di Marcovaldo is one of the better-known Duecento artists and is the first Florentine artist whose name and works are well-documented. One of the earliest references to Coppo is found in the Book of Montaperti, where his name is listed among Florentines soldiers for the war with Siena, which ended at the Battle of Montaperti on September 4, 1260. It is speculated by many historians that Coppo was taken prisoner by the Sienese where he was then held at the church of Santa Maria dei Servi.

It was here in 1261 that he painted his most famous work The Madonna del Bordone for the order of the Servites. Assumed to be a prisoner of war, the question is raised as to why a Florentine artist was asked to execute such an important Sienese painting.