Domenico Di Michelino (1417 - 1491)

• Was an Italian Renaissance painter.
• Michelino was born and died in Florence.
• His real name was Domenico di Francesco.
• The patronymic "di Michelino" was adopted in honor of his teacher, the cassone painter Michelino di Benedetto.
• Giorgio Vasari reports that Domenico was also a pupil of Fra Angelico.
• Domenico enrolled in the Florentine painters' confraternity, the Compagnia di San Luca, by 1442.
• Two years later he joined the Arte dei Medici e Speziali, the Florentine painters' guild.
• He had a workshop in the Via delle Terme, Florence, which he shared with Domenico di Zanobi.
• Domenico's most famous work is the Comedy Illuminating Florence on the north wall of the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence.
• According to documents, the painting was commissioned on 30 January 1465 and was designed by Alesso Baldovinetti.
• It shows Dante Alighieri presenting his famous poem, the Divine Comedy, to the city of Florence.
• Views of Hell, Mount Purgatory and Paradise appear in the background, all as described in the poem.
• Domenico was still active in 1483 but few of his works from this period survive.
• He died in Florence on 18 April 1491.
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