The Chapel of Carlo Spiafame, 'Native of Lucca', in Avignon Cathedral
Geoff Nuttall led us through this chapel and specifically the fresco outside it from around 1430. He told us about the family to whom it was dedicated and specifically about the father, Carlo Spiafame who had come to the city in 1385 from Lucca as part of a banking family, to service the papal court which was based there at the time.
He talked about how the court brought Italian artists to the city but he thought the fresco was by a French artist who was influenced by them, possibly Jacques Iverny. He also speculated that they may have seen the Belles Heures de Duc du Berry as the Baptism scene is very similar and the Spiafame family had been involved in valuing his possessions on his death.
He discussed the strange iconography of including donors in a scene of the Baptism of Christ and said this was the only example of that that he knew. He also pointed out that donors were usually presented by saints but in this case they knelt looking at the scene as if it was a vision.
This was a very niche subject but I loved the detail of it and Geoff’s finishing remark that “something doesn’t have to be famous to be fascinating”.
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