( fl 1308). Italian painter. He was named by Garrison after a dossal now in S Maria, Cesi, in Umbria, dated by inscription to 1308. It shows the Virgin and Child Enthroned with a kneeling female donor named in the inscription as Domina Elena; on either side are two registers of small-scale standing saints and two angels swinging censers. The panels of a large rectangular triptych, now arranged as a pair of doors (Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Villa–Mus. Ile de France, Fond. de Rothschild), showing scenes from the Life of the Virgin, have also been attributed to the Master. The centre panel, the Assumption of the Virgin, has the distinctive Umbrian iconography of the Virgin leaning her head and arm on Christ’s shoulder. Small narrative scenes from the Life and Death of the Virgin are on the wings. The triptych is probably identifiable with one seen in the Convento della Passione, Spoleto, in the 19th century and probably painted for Spoleto Cathedral. The Cesi Master was active in the region around Spoleto, and a painted Crucifix (Spoleto, Pin. Com.) is also attributed to him. This is unusual in that it shows the living Christ crucified with only three nails. A fragmentary rectangular dossal from S Maria, Ponte, near Spoleto, is sometimes attributed to him. It shows Christ in Majesty within a mandorla supported by five roundels containing the four Evangelist Symbols and an Agnus Dei; on either side are two registers with small-scale standing saints and censer-swinging angels, and the remains of an Annunciation and Nativity. Works by the Cesi Master show the influence of the Roman Master ( fl c. 1260–80) at Assisi, and a Roman origin under the influence of Pietro Cavallini has been suggested (Longhi). His works contain many iconographical echoes of the frescoes of S Francesco, Assisi, for example the St Nicholas Chapel in the Lower Church and the stylistic influence of the St Cecilia Master in the Upper Church. He was also much influenced by earlier local painters such as Simeone and Machilone da Spoleto ( fl 1230–57).

Part of the Masters, anonymous, and monogrammists family