Per la cronologia degli affreschi del cappellone di San Nicola a Tolentino

This essay is a contribution to the debate regarding the dating of the cycle of the frescoes in the chapel of Saint Nicola in Tolentino, which is attributed to Pietro da Rimini. The hypotheses made until now date the painting of the frescoes between 1310 to 1348 to stand around 1325 of the process of canonization. Observing the iconography of the representations of the post mortem miracles in several paintings made from the end of the thirteenth century to the beginning of the following, it can be noted that until the first decade of the fourteenth century the saints are represented with their feet on the floor and larger than the other characters in the scene. Later, from the middle of the second decade of the fourteenth century onwards, the saints are represented smaller and in the air. We can note that in the scenes frescoed in the chapel of Tolentino saint Nicola appears bigger than the rest of the figures and with his feet on the floor. We can guess therefore that the painting in chapel was probably realized shortly after the middle of the second decade. This hypothesis could help to shed light on the development of artistic language of the young Pietro da Rimini for which there are no chronological references.