Dono Doni

1. ✴Dono Doni almost certainly hosted Vasari during his visits to Assisi: in the 2nd edition, Vasari commented that Dono Doni’s “gentleness and good manners have caused him to be considered liberal and courteous”. It is hard to imagine that they did not discuss the matter. 2. ✴Dono Doni was also an important advisor to Fra. Ludovico da Pietralunga, whose guide (ca. 1575) to the basilica still survives. This guide also attributed the St Francis Cycles to Giotto. Fra. Ludovico did not slavishly follow Vasari in his attributions. Significantly, when he differed from Vasari in attributing a (now lost) work in Santa Chiara to Puccio Capanna , he justified his position in part by citing the reasoned opinion of none other than Dono Doni. Thus, if Fra. Ludovico agreed with Vasari about the attribution of the St Francis Cycle to Giotto, it is a safe bet that he was following Dono Doni in doing so. Indeed, Dono Doni might well have been the first of the three men to make this attribution. Giorgio Vasari considered these documented frescoes on the exterior wall of the Cappella del Transito , Santa Maria degli Angeli to be Dono Doni’s best works. They may have been damaged in the earthquake of 1832, which would explain why they were over-painted in 1889. The Confraternita dei SS Antonio e Giacomo commissioned this altarpiece, which is signed by Dono Doni and dated by inscription, for their Altare di Sant' Antonio Abate (at the head of the right aisle). It was moved the Altare di San Filippo Benizi (in the right aisle) in 1848, when its original altar was demolished. It depicts: 1. ✴Christ in Glory with SS James and John the Evangelist (above), and The Confraternita di San Gregorio commissioned this altarpiece from Dono Doni for their Altare di San Gregorio Magno (at the head of the left aisle). It was moved to the Altare di San Vitale (in the presbytery) when its original altar was destroyed in 1848. ✴The main panel, which was restored in 2004, depicts the body of Christ after its removal from the cross, surrounded by mourners. ✴The predella, which was detached from the main panel in 1848, is now in the Museo Diocesano . It depicts St Gregory the Great with members of the confraternity. The Confraternita di San Lorenzo commissioned this altarpiece from Dono Doni for their Altare di San Lorenzo (in the right aisle). It was moved to the Altare di San Rufinuccio (in the presbytery) when its original altar was destroyed in 1848. ✴The main panel, which was restored in 2004, depicts the Crucifixion of Christ and the two thieves in front of a cityscape of Jerusalem, with St Mary Magdalene at the foot of the Cross, St John the Evangelist to the right and the swooning Madonna to the left. The predella (mid 16th century), which depicts the Holy Family with SS Antony of Padua and Bernardino of Siena, is more securely attributed to Dono Doni. These altarpieces from the chapel of the Palazzo dei Priori , which are now in the Pinacoteca Comunale , are attributed to Dono Doni. They depict: This fresco of the Crucifixion with the Virgin and St John the Evangelist on the Altare di San Giuseppe of Santa Maria Maggiore , which is attributed to Dono Doni, was discovered under plaster during the restoration that followed the earthquake of 1997. Unfortunately it has been over-restored: this probably occurred in 1640, when the fictive altar surrounding it was executed. The Confraternita di Santo Stefano commissioned these frescoes from Dono Doni for the Cappella di Santo Stefano in the Lower Church of San Francesco. Dono Doni died in the following year and the work was completed by his workshop. The scenes, which are in the lunettes and read from right to left, depict: The frescoes in the vaults, which depict Prophets and Sibyls, are also by Dono Doni. This fresco in the lunette over the portal of the church of San Paolo (later San Giuseppe ) is somewhat tenuously attributed to Dono Doni. 1. ✴the Crucifixion with the Virgin and St John the Evan