Spinello Aretino (Spinello di Luca Spinelli), Italian
painter. He came from Arezzo (hence the name Aretino) and probably trained in Florence,
perhaps under Agnolo Gaddi. He was the most prolific muralist of his time and undertook
large fresco cycles all over Tuscany. His last series was the cycle devoted to the
Sienese pope Alexander III in Siena Town Hall (1408-10). He also painted altarpieces.
Spinello borrowed ideas freely from other painters, notably Giotto, but his style
was sturdy and vigorous. Several fresco fragments by Spinello are in the National
Gallery, London. His son Parri Spinelli (d. 1452) was his assistant. |