Neri di Bicci
Italian, 1419–1492/93
Di Bicci kept a written account of the inner workings of his workshop between 1453 and 1475. This record is extremely significant to our modern understanding of the production of paintings during the 15th century. This detailed document reveals that he produced an average of three altarpieces a year, and had no fewer than nineteen assistants working for him.
His last signed and dated painting is an altarpiece in Siena from 1484; however, it is likely that he continued to work after that. Scholars have surmised that he died in 1491, as no traces or records of him exist past that point.