Paolo di Giovanni Fei

Who was Paolo di Giovanni Fei?

Paolo di Giovanni Fei was a painter of the Sienese school.

He came to Siena from San Quirico, Castelvecchio, held public positions in Siena from 1369 and was first mentioned in the Sienese register of painters in 1389. His earliest signed and dated work is of 1381. He appears among the documents of the Duomo di Siena, 1395–1410, and is assumed to have died shortly thereafter. Paolo di Giovanni was influenced by the brothers Pietro Lorenzetti and Ambrogio Lorenzetti and by the Sienese masters Bartolo di Fredi and Simone Martini. His paintings are characterized by their bright clear palette often against a gilded and punched ground, and his wealth of naturalistic and ornamental detail.

His artistic personality was first elucidated by Bernard Berenson.