Barnaba da Modena (documented in Modena and Genoa from 1352 to 1383)
The Flight into Egypt, Nativity and Annunciation to the Shepherds, 1370/1380
painting on panel, transferred to new support structure; inv. P 68, P 69
provenance: Pelagio Palagi Collection, 1860
Born in Modena to a Milanese family, Barnaba spent a period of time as an apprentice in Emilia, then moved to Genoa, where he became a highly esteemed artist in the 14th century.
In these two smaller works, we see his rich pictorial language and his lively taste for narration, exhibited by the flock of sheep near the crib and the Child on the donkey.
The use of gilded damascening, or inlayed metal decorations, unusual in Italian painting of the time, clarifies the artist’s attention to Byzantine tradition.
Barnaba familiarized himself with this style because of the import of art objects from the Genoese colonies in the East. From the Medieval Department of the Museo Civico.
