Jacopo di Cione

Who was Jacopo di Cione?

Jacopo di Cione was an Italian painter.

Born in Florence between 1320 and 1330, he is closely associated with his three older brothers Andrea di Cione di Arcangelo, Nardo di Cione and Matteo di Cione. The di Cione brothers often worked collaboratively. Jacopo lived in the popolo Sancte Marie Novelle and, later in life, in the popolo Sancti Laurentii.

In 1366-68 Jacopo worked on a large chamber in the guildhall of the judges and notaries, Florence. After Andrea's death in 1368 Jacopo took over some of his brother's commissions, for example guaranteeing to complete a painting of the Virgin and assuming responsibility for the altarpiece of St Matthew, both for the Orsanmichele, Florence. He enrolled in the Arte dei Medici e Speziali in 1369, and was one of the consuls of the guild in 1384, 1387 and 1392.

Jacopo also worked regularly with the painter Niccolò di Pietro Gerini. In 1370-71 they produced the polyptych for the high altar of the church of San Pier Maggiore in Florence. Niccolò was paid for the overall design, while Jacopo seems to have been responsible for the narratives. The altarpiece is one of the largest commissioned in fourteenth-century Florence, and was probably commissioned by the Albizzi family. The twelve main panels of the altarpiece are in the National Gallery, London, but the predella showing scenes from the life of Saint Peter has been dispersed. The two painters again collaborated in 1372-73 on the large panel of the Coronation of the Virgin commissioned by the mint of Florence, and in 1386 they received the commission for a fresco of the Annunciation for the council chamber in the Palazzo dei Priori, Volterra.