The frescoes painted by Maso di Banco with the Stories of St. Sylvester for the chapel of Bardi di Vernio in the church of Santa Croce in Florence, following the recent restoration.
[Maso di Banco. The Chapel of San Silvestro] The personality of Maso di Banco has recently been reconstructed by scholars based on his most famous work: the 14th-century cycle with the Stories of St. Sylvester in the chapel of Bardi di Vernio at the church of Santa Croce in Florence.
Trained in keeping with the lessons of the late work of Giotto, the artist interprets the Stories, a true point of arrival in the chromatic technique and rigorous perspective developed in his earlier works, by utilizing very luminous colors and a vast, free sense of space, in which the religious narrative unfolds at a gradual, austere pace.
The volume analytically illustrates the decoration of the chapel after the recent restoration work, presenting actual-size reproductions for a vivid experience of even the smallest details.
The texts examine the physical state of the work, the problems involved in conservation and the various restoration projects.