Pietro Cavallini

Little is known about this painter in general and nothing at all of his youth and training.
In about 1291 he executed mosaics showing the life of the Virgin, in the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome.
His style is definitely influenced bypainters such as Cimabue and Giotto but there are strong medieval and Byzantine elements. He uses colour to define the shape and position of figures and all his works are highly chromatic. In the definition of space and of the composition, colours are the most important elements and figures are monumental and statuesque.
He painted some frescos in the church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere in Rome: the Last Judgement and stories from the Old and New Testament.
He is also the author of the frescos on the Tomb of Cardinal Matteo D'acquasparta in the church of Aracoeli in Rome and the frescos in the apse of St Giorgio in Velabro, in Rome.
In 1308 Cavallini was in Naples, working for Charles d’Anjou. He painted the fresco showing the Tree of Jesse in the Duomo of Naples and part of the frescos of the church of Santa Maria Donnaregina.
The artist was also the author of a mosaic on the façade of the Roman basilica St Paolo fuori le mura (nothing has survived to the present day).