The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (174 page)

 
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(1439–1501/2).
Sienese painter, sculptor, architect, military engineer, and writer. He painted mainly during the early part of his career and few works certainly by him survive; the most important are a signed
Nativity
(1475) and a documented
Coronation of the Virgin
(1471), both in the Pinacoteca at Siena. As a sculptor, his major works are four bronze angels (1489–97) on the high altar of Siena Cathedral. Francesco was widely travelled, and the latter part of his career was spent mainly as an architect and engineer, particularly a specialist in fortifications. He is also said to have exploded the first mine. As a technological innovator he was second only to his friend
Leonardo
, whom he certainly influenced. Among his patrons was Federico da
Montefeltro
, and Francesco may have had a hand in the designing of his celebrated palace in Urbino. His only certain non-military building, however, is Sta Maria del Calcinaio, near Cortona, begun 1484. Francesco wrote a treatise on architecture in the last years of his life; it was not published until 1841.

 
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(
c.
1450–1517/18).
The outstanding Bolognese painter of his period, originally a goldsmith. He entered into a partnership with
Costa
after the latter came to Bologna
c.
1483 and was later influenced also by
Perugino
. His most characteristic works are sweet, softly rounded Madonnas, which his large workshop produced in some numbers. He was also an accomplished portraitist. There are several examples of his work in the National Gallery, London.

 
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(
c.
1482–1525).
Florentine painter, a minor master of the High
Renaissance
style. He was a pupil of Mariotto
Albertinelli
and collaborated with
Andrea del Sarto
, who was the dominant influence on his style. His best works are generally considered to be his portraits, particularly those of young men (
A Knight of Rhodes
, NG, London,
c.
1514).

 
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(1923–94).
American painter, one of the leading second-generation
Abstract Expressionists
. While serving in the US Army Air Corps he injured his spine in a plane crash and he took up painting in 1944 when he was recovering in hospital. In 1950 he settled in Paris, where he studied under
Léger
and was friendly with
Riopelle
and other
Art Informel
painters; his style was influenced by these artists as well as by Americans such as Jackson
Pollock
. He has visited Japan several times, and the thin texture of his paint, his drip and splash technique, and his asymmetrical balance of colour against powerful voids (he often left areas of canvas blank) have led critics to speak of influences from Japanese traditions of contemplative art. In 1961 Francis returned to his native California, settling first at Santa Barbara and then in Santa Monica. From the mid-1960s the feeling of oriental simplicity in his painting increased, bringing his work into closer affinity with
Minimal art
. Francis carried out several mural commissions, but he often worked on a small scale in watercolour. He also made lithographs (from 1960) and sculpture (from 1965).

 
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Francken
.

Family of Flemish painters active in the 16th and 17th cents., mainly in Antwerp. The individual contributions of the many artists in the family are often difficult to assess, but the two most distinguished members were
Frans I
(1542–1616) and his son
Frans II
(1581–1642). The father mainly painted religious and historical compositions. His early works were frequently life-lize; the late ones were small, usually done on copper, and crowded with exotic figures and accessories. Frans II frequently adopted his father's subjects and style, but his range was wider. He painted landscapes and
genre
scenes as well as historical pictures, and was also one of the first artists to use the interior of a picture gallery as a subject, giving faithful miniature reproductions of the works in the collection. His paintings were even smaller and more crowded than his father's; they were also more colourful. Frans II was frequently employed by his fellow artists in Antwerp to paint the figures in their landscapes and interiors.