Spinello, Aretino

, an Italian painter of portrait and history, was born at Arezzo in 1328. His genius for painting was early developed, and he studied under Jacopo di Casentino, whom, at the age of twenty, he greatly surpassed. He gave a singular grace to his figures, and to his Madonnas especially, a modesty and beauty that seemed almost divine. His style was simple and elegant, with the utmost neatness in finishing The greatness of his abilities procured him an early fame, and a constant abundance of employment. He was particularly successful in the portraits of the popes Innocent IV. and Gregory IX. and in his fresco paintings on the life of the Blessed Virgin, in the chapel of S. Maria Maggiore, at Florence. He lived to the age of ninety-two, and died in 1420.²