A Florentine Visionary of the Gothic Twilight Mariotto di Nardo, a name perhaps less resonant than those of his Renaissance successors, nevertheless occupies a crucial position in the transition between the elegant world of late Gothic painting and the burgeoning naturalism that would define the 15th century. Born in Florence around 1365, Mariotto flourished during a period of immense artistic ferment, working amidst the grandeur of the Duomo, the devotional spaces of Santa Maria Maggiore, and the civic pride embodied by the Orsanmichele. His career, spanning from approximately 1394 to 1424,…