Tommaso da Modena
1326 · Lordship of Modena · Italian Gothic, Trecento
The story
In 1352 the Dominican friars of San Nicolò in Treviso had Tommaso da Modena fill the walls of their chapter house with famous men of their order. He painted 40 of them, each alone at his desk, reading, writing, sharpening a pen or peering through a lens. One of them, the cardinal Hugh of Saint-Cher, has a pair of spectacles on his nose, and it is the oldest known picture of anyone wearing glasses.
Tommaso was born in Modena in 1326, and Treviso became his main field of work. His name travelled much further. For the Emperor Charles IV he painted panels that are still at Karlštejn castle near Prague, and one of them carries his signature in Latin, Thomas de Mutina, Thomas of Modena. Through works like these, the museum notes, his lively Gothic manner reached Emilia, the Veneto and Bohemia. He is last recorded in 1368.
