My Kid Could Paint That

Benozzo Gozzoli, St. Augustine Reading Rhetoric in Rome, 1464

Benozzo Gozzoli's uniqueness stems mostly from his absurd yet flowing depictions of nature. His affinity for the Earth was unparalleled, crowding his art with trees, rocks, and animals. However, what do we end up with when all but the latter remains absent from his paintings?

Of course, that's not entirely true. Gozzoli sneaks in windows in the back to draw some buildings and a single tree. Yet, Gozzoli has no choice to divert from his adoration of topiary to focus on the primary subject of this painting. St. Augustine teaches rhetoric to his students gathered around below him. Some are enthralled, others are not. It's your typical classroom, with all but the exception of the presence of a small dog.

Amusingly, the tiny pup diverts most of the attention to itself, rather than St. Augustine, who we should be focusing on. The dog's position, being squarely in front of St. Augustine and settled comfortably in the middle, acts as the core of the picture. Does it ruin the painting? Maybe. True, we lose ourselves in the oddness of the dog's appearance rather than seeing the painting for what it is: Saint Augustine teaching rhetoric in Rome. Nonetheless, the painting remains pleasant. In fact, the dog only strengthens the shape of the painting, a neat triangle leading from St. Augustine down to his students.

Some could speculate about the dog's meaning. Loyalty, innocence, or any by the book canine symbolism could be fair game.

Or, alternatively, Gozzoli could have simply wanted to paint a cute dog, because that's what Gozzoli does.

Benozzo Gozzoli, Journey of the Magi, 1459

The acme of Benozzo Gozzoli’s career, the Journey of the Magi serves as the accumulation of all of Gozzoli’s skills and admirations.

Gozzoli, pupil of Fra Angelico, is often overlooked in the assemblage of Renaissance artists. Little is known about Gozzoli, past his student-mentor relationship with Angelico. He boasts no awe-inspiring achievements or scandals. Thus, we see Gozzoli only for his art, rather than his life. His style is infamous for changing and many of his pieces fail to match stylistically when compared. However, Gozzoli did retain a style of his own, of which is displayed wholly in the Medici commissioned Journey of the Magi.

Gozzoli, enthralled with nature, featured sloping cliffs, tall trees, and a slew of animals in many of his paintings. The structures of rock are graceful and smooth, simulating drapery rather than stone. The impracticality of his favored painting subjects is imminent in his art, signaling that Gozzoli did not aim for a realistic approach. Rather, the Journey of the Magi is meant to depict the Medici family’s progression and glorify Lorenzo de' Medici, drawing the most attention out of the crowd of people. He sits on a white horse with adorned clothing, symbolizing one of three Magi traveling to visit the Christ child. Gozzoli gratuitously paints himself concealed in the crowd, recognizable by his gaze.

Benozzo Gozzoli, Journey of the Magi, 1459

Gozzoli painted this fresco for the Medici Palace in Florence, and it's meant to picture the journey of the three wise men to Bethlehem, on their way to visit the newborn Jesus. Upon closer inspection, however, you might find some discrepancies with this. The clothing resembles, instead of traditional biblical attire, clothing of the modern age. Gozzoli went to great lengths to incorporate the Medici family into his work, painting in family members and using their faces as prototypes for the kings themselves.

The fresco actually spans three different walls in the Medici Palace, one for each king. This one features the youngest king. It has been speculated that he is meant to resemble Lorenzo Il Magnifico, but Lorenzo was, at the time, not more than ten years old and hence not able to be painted in. Cosimo de Medici's elderly figure sits atop the brown mule, the mule crowned with shining gold harnesses to separate him from the crowd. Gozzoli did a self-portrait in the third row, and is signified by his hat, which has his name on it. The castle in the background, meant to be Jerusalem, bears a resemblance to one of the Medici's villas.

The procession crowds the painting, and the perspective isn't entirely correct, but the piece features some improvements from the paintings of the pre-renaissance era. The trees and undergrowth depart from the unrealistic Giotto style, and, although still a far cry from complete accuracy, seem much more realistic than before.

Gozzoli's work doesn't necessarily come close to perfection, but it takes a step in the right direction.

Bennozzo Gozzoli, Journey of the Magi, Kelsey Thorp