Monaco, Lorenzo

(Piero di Giovanni; c. 1370-1424)

   Italian painter whose life and career are not well documented. He was active in Florence where in 1391 he entered the Camaldolese Monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli. His best-known work is the Coronation of the Virgin (1414; Florence, Uffizi), painted for the high altar of the monastery's church. Monaco painted a smaller version, now in the National Gallery in London (1407-1409), for the local Monastery of San Benedetto Fuori della Porta a Pinti that also belonged to the order. The Adoration of the Magi in the Uffizi (c. 1421-1422) he originally rendered for the Church of Sant' Egidio, while the frescoes in the Bartolini-Salimbeni Chapel in the Church of Santa Trinità (1420-1425) that depict the life of the Virgin Mary, saints, and prophets is his most extensive commission. The opulent pageantry in these works, the brilliant colors, and heavy gilding mark Monaco as one of the notable exponents of the International Style.