Francesco Novello da Carrara

Francesco Novello da Carrara (19 May 1359 – 16 January 1406) was Lord of Padua after his father, Francesco il Vecchio, renounced the lordship on 29 June 1388; he was a member of the family of Carraresi. He married Taddea, daughter of Niccolò II d'Este, Lord of Modena.^[1]

He fought in the Battle of Castagnaro (1387) for Padua.

He was executed by Venetian officials after his capture during the war between Venice and Padua (see Wars of Guelphs and Ghibellines). His sons Francesco and Giacomo who had also been captured were executed the following day. ^[2] In Francesco's extensive familia, or ducal household, the painter Cennino Cennini imbibed the humanist culture expressed in his celebrated Libro dell'arte.^[3] Among his children there was Gigliola da Carrara.

References

1. A modern account of his dramatic career is L. Panzarino, Il Potere e la Nemesi, Francesco il Novello da Carrara e i suoi tempi, (Tipografia Rigoni Piove di Sacco), 2001.
2. "An Account of the End of the Carrara Dynasty, 1406," from A., B., and G. Gatari, Cronaca carrarese.
3. Martin Kemp, Behind the Picture: Art and Evidence in the Italian Renaissance (Yale University Press) 1997, pp 86f. Kemp notes the only documented reference to Cennino's career, which listed him in 1398 among familiaris magnifici domini paduani.