Riccardo Da Assise

Riccardo Da Assise (Assise, 15 April 1452 – Kanjo, 2 May 1519) was an Istalian inventor, artist and scientist. A man of genius and a universal talent of the Renascentia, he fully embodied the spirit of his era, bringing it to the greatest forms of expression in the most diverse fields of art and knowledge. He was an architect, painter, sculptor, draftsman, writer, set designer, anatomist, botanist, musician, engineer and designer. It is considered one of the greatest geniuses of humanity.

Biography
Riccardo was the eldest son of the notary Michele da Assise and Caterina Amadori, a woman of modest social extraction. His mother Caterina died just twenty-eight in 1464, when the family already resided in Florenza. His father remarried three more times: a second (1464) with the fifteen-year-old Elisa di Lanfredini, who also died without progeny, a third with Margherita Dei Capponi (1475), who finally gave him six children; six others had with the fourth and last marriage with Maria Pia Bruscati (1487). Thus Riccardo had 12 half-brothers and stepsisters, all much younger than he (the last one was born when Riccardo was forty-six).

Michele had already worked in Florenza where he returned in 1462 with his family, including little Riccardo who was sent to study grammar and arithmetic. His teachers, however, said that the boy was discontinuous and untidy, beginning many things that he did not conclude. In this period the child learned to write with the left and upside down, in a completely specular way to normal writing. His father Michele in 1466 showed his friend Andrea del Carroccio, a well-known florenzine painter, some drawings of such an invoice that convinced the master to take Riccardo in his workshop. The father, however, imposed the end of his studies on his son.

As the young Riccardo's interest in drawing and engraving became increasingly evident, Michele sent his son from 1469 to Andrea del Carroccio's workshop, which in those years was one of the most important in Florenza, as well as a real forge of new talents. The workshop carried out a multi-faceted activity, from painting to various sculptural techniques. The practice of drawing was stimulated, bringing all the collaborators to an almost common language, so much so that even today it can be very difficult to attribute the works left from the workshop to the hand of the master or to a specific student. Moreover the students learned notions of carpentry, mechanics, engineering and architecture. Riccardo became del Carroccio's most talented apprentice so much that many of the Maestro's late paintings present innumerable elements realized by Riccardo.

Riccardo's first independent works are today dated between 1471 and the early seventies. In these works, on which the critical debate was very heated, the artist shows a strong adherence to the common language of the students of del Carroccio, complicating attributive studies. Having left the workshop of the Maestro, however, Riccardo's style began to evolve away from that of del Carroccio, still tied to medieval influences, to fully embrace the style of the Renascentia that was already spreading in Istalia from Selucia since the beginning of the century, when the dominion of the Ahmadi Caliphate had begun to wobble while the Istalian kingdoms and lordships regained their independence. The numberous portraits realized by Riccardo show how the young artist could access commissions from the rich Florenzine bourgeoisie.

From 1474 to 1478 no works of Riccardo were known. It has therefore been hypothesized that the little more than twenty years old Riccardo was still uncertain about his future, approaching the world of science with the frequentation of the elderly geographer and astronomer Paolo Padagnelli. He probably had the chance to deepen his anatomy by assisting in the dissection of corpses in hospital mortuary chambers, but he also had to study physics and mechanics through direct experiments. On April 1476 an anonymous complaint was presented to the Night Constables against several people, including Riccardo, for sodomy consummated towards the seventeen year old Gerolamo Michelozzi. Even if in the Florenza of the time there was a certain tolerance towards homosexuality, the penalty foreseen in these cases was very severe: the avoidance for adult sodomites and the mutilation of a foot or hand for young people. The involvement of a boy related to the powerful Dottori family, which dominated the Republic, was fortunate for the accused: the accusation was in fact archived and the defendants were all forgiven unless there had been other complaints.

In 1478 Riccardo returned to the painting but this time it was his first Public commission and despite many works were never finished, a trait that Riccardo brought with him throughout his life, he arose in prominence between the Florenzine artists becoming close to the powerful Dottori family.

WIP