Paolo da firenze
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Giovanni da Cascia
Italian composer
Giovanni da Cascia, also Jovannes de Cascia, Johannes de Florentia, Maestro Giovanni da Firenze, was an Italian composer of the medieval era, active in the middle of the fourteenth century.
Life and career
Virtually nothing is known about Giovanni's life. From his surname it is presumed that he was born in the village of Cascia, near Florence. It was once thought that he held a post at Florence Cathedral, but this is no longer accepted. A Florentine chronicle states that Giovanni and Jacopo da Bologna competed at Mastino II of Scala's court; Mastino died in 1351. The metaphors used in his works are consistent with prevailing idioms of the mid-14th century. His portrait in the Squarcialupi Codex shows him without priestly garments.
Music
Nineteen of Giovanni's compositions survive, scattered in nine manuscripts. Sixteen of these are madrigals, and three of them are cacce. He is thought to have written some of his own texts. Musically, Giovanni's madrigals are of importance in the development of the style of the
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Giovanni da Cascia (Giovanni de Florentia)
Giovanni da Cascia (Giovanni de Florentia ), Italian composer who flourished in the 14th century. According to his younger contemporary Filippo Villani, in Liber de civitatis Florentiae famosis civibus, he was the initiator of the stylistic reform which spread from Florence shortly after 1300. He was organist and probably chorus master at S. Maria del Fiore at Florence. He lived at the court of Mastino II della Scala, Verona, c. 1329-51. His extant compositions include 16 madrigals and 3 cacce, MSS of which may be found in libraries at Florence and Paris and in the British Museum. For modern editions of his works, see N. Pirrotta, ed., The Music of 14th Century Italy, in Corpus Mensurabilis Musicae, VIII/1 (1954) and W. Marrocco, ed., Italian Secular Music, in Polyphonic Music of the Fourteenth Century, VI (1967).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire
Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians
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Giovanni da Milano
Born, Giovanni di Jacopo di Guido da Caversaccio, in Lombardy, Milano became active in Florence, painting for the city’s Churches. His painting was true to the times, influenced by Giotto di Bondone, the Great Giotto (1267 – 1337), a style many artists in Florence followed at the time. His works also show an influence from the Sienese painter, Simone Martini (1280 – 1344).
His first fully attributed work was the polyptych of Madonna and Saints for the Prato Spedale della Misericordia. His Ognissanti Polyptych depicting several saints, now hangs in the Uffizi Gallery. He also painted frescos depicting the Life of the Virgin and the Life of Mary Magdalene, in the Rinuccini Chapel of the Basilica di Santa Croce di Firenze. One of his last works executed was the Man of Sorrows, but there is also record that he was commissioned in 1369 by Pope Urban V (1310 – 1370), collaborating with his fellow Florentine, Giottino (1324 – 1369) in Rome.