Initial ideas for a profile of Pèleo Bacci, in the margins of an unpublished contribution on Andrea di Niccolò

Abstract

An unpublished contribution by Pèleo Bacci, which has remained buried until now among the working papers of his personal archive, offers new documentary evidence on the artistic beginnings of Andrea di Niccolò and Neroccio di Bartolomeo de’ Landi. In the account books of the Santa Maria della Scala, the scholar had in fact found proof of the common apprenticeship of the two young artists in the workshop of Lorenzo di Pietro, known as il Vecchietta. Thus, Bacci could seal the reasons of those who had already expressed such an opinion for obvious reasons of style. Furthermore, the trouvaille was mainly the occasion for a focus on the figure, unjustly neglected, of the Pistoiese-born art historian, who for almost twenty years directed the Soprintendenza of Siena, after having already led that of Pisa. The pages of his manuscript proved to be an exceptional observatory to better focus on the scientific physiognomy of their author, highlighting nuances and evolutions, against the backdrop of a broader critical panorama.