BIGORDI, be-gor'-de, Domenico, Italian painter: b. Florence 1146; d. 11 Jan. 1494. He was nicknamed Ghirlandajo, a name already borne by his father, Tommaso. He studied painting and mosaics under Alesso Baldovinetti. At the same time he studied Mosaccio's fres coes. After 1480 he painted a 'Last Supper) for the church of Ognisanti, and soon after he undertook a series of frescoes in the Sasseti chapel in La Trinita. Here he depicted the principal scenes of the legend of Saint Francis, introducing many figures which the Florentine public recognized as some of their well-known contemporaries. He also painted at this time (The Adoration of the Shepherds,' now in the Academy of Fine Arts. His fame soon reached Rome and he was summoned thither in 1483, to work on the Sistine chapel. Here he painted 'The Vocation of SS. Peter and Andrew) and another work now lost At Rome he met Francisco Tomabuoni who became his patron. From 1485 to 1490 he was employed in repaint ing the choir chapel of Santa Maria Novella at Florence. Here Michelangelo was the ap prentice of Bigordi and aided his master in the work on the choir chapel, which remains one of the most venerable monuments of Florence. The life of this great artist, one of the most notable precursors of the development which was to follow, was short. He died in 1494 leaving several works unfinished. His two brothers and his pupils undertook to finish them. In fact several of his paintings show traces of a strange hand. Independent of the
works mentioned above there are others de serving of mention, such as the
BIGOT, Charles Jules, French critic: b. Paris, 14 Sept. 1840; d. 1893. After finishing his studies at the Ecole Normale and the Art School at Athens, he entered journalism and soon became known as a critic. His articles appeared in XIX* Slide and the Revue Bleu. Among his larger works are 'Les classes dirigeantes) (1876); 'Le clerge francais devant la loi francaise) (18'77); 'Le petit Francais) (1f382); 'Raphael et la Farnesine) (1884) ; (Grece, Turquie, le Danube) (1886) ; (De Paris au Magara' (1887). His wife, Mary Healey Bigot, an American, is also well known as a writer under the pen name of *Jeanne Mairet°