This should be really easy....

This celebrated work (8 letters) by this artist (7 letters) was badly damaged by a (event: 5 letters).

3rd and 4th letters of event = "o"

This artist can be regarded as a grand daddy of many of the artists that have appeared in this thread.

It's been eight minutes. Where's everyone? :-)

Flood?

Yes.

What about the other two? (It's the flood in Florence.)

Maybe it's not as easy as I thought. It's too vaguely phrased. When I typed "badly damaged by flood Florence" into Google, there're a number of works. :-)

But I did say that this artist is the grand daddy, so that should narrow things down.

Crucifix by Cimabue? If I'm right, someone else take turn, cause I will be part of evening commute in 2 min.

Yes.

Let's wait for cmt to give us her clue.

I'm leaving shortly myself. Will check back tomorrow.

Grandmere et al.: I can't remain on the Internet long during the work day. I just happened to flit on and noticed a puzzle I could answer quickly, but then I was no longer around by the time the next clue was posted. Anyway, here's a new one:

Bearded telephone inventor, who was a good friend of the patriot _______ _________ ( 8 letters first name, 9 letters last name, 4th letter of last name is an "i" from Fiesole), was born in ____ __________ (3 letters first word, 8 letters second word, 2nd letter of 2nd word is "r" from Fra), which was also the birthplace of the visual artist (7 letters first name, 8 letters last name, 3rd letter of first name is "m" from Marco, and 3rd letter of last name is "n" from Florence), who painted a portrait of a _________ (first name 8 letters, 6th letter is "i" from Pietro) of the ruling family _________(6 letters), which painting is located in the town hall of ________ (5 letters, 2nd letter is an "r" from Marco).

Are you all getting to be like me now, forgetting to check this thread?

I got the first three:

Antonio Meucci

Giuseppe Garibaldi

San Frediano

I need another clue to go any further or perhaps someone else can jump in?

Regards Ger

So far, excellent. The artist is not a well known one, but the key to finding him on Google is his birthplace. Once you find the artist, finding whose portrait he painted and where it is will be easy.

No, I am not getting anywhere with this! There are too many occurances of the town name in Florence (i.e. the Church of ....).

Anyone else?

Further hints about the artist:

Besides the fact that he was born in San Frediano, he was known for paintings and drawings, and his work was in the Mannerist style. He was also known by a nickname made up for four words: 4/2/3/6 letters. The first name of the nickname was a shortened form of his real first name. The last word in the nickname was a different spelling of Frediano.

Sorry cmt, I ust can't come up with an answer. I found a great website, listing ALL famous painters and could NOT get a match.

yk & 111op, where are you???

My subject matter expertise is history, so I might be able to find a solution if you give me a clue about the family mentioned (I have already tried Medici and Borgia, with no luck).

I am frustrated!


Regards Ger

I've got the 2nd last and last clues but am having problems withthe 3rd last clue.

Cardinal??? The I is the 5th letter not he 6th. His first name was Ferdinando so that can't be it.
Medici
Prato
Regards
Sarvowinner

Ger, et al.: As to the subject of the portrait painted--I used a less common spelling when counting letters. I should've used the normal spelling, which would make the subject's first name come out to 10 letters (not 8). (That's not counting the number I after it.)

(P.S. I'd never heard of the painter myself and found him when searching for an additional fact to put in the puzzle, namely some other famous person born in San Frediano, a.k.a. "San Friano.")

Ger: I try to check this thread only during 7am to 5pm NY time. :-)

(Confession: I sometimes check in the evenings or during the weekends, but since I need to pay for net access then I try not to.)

So far all of Ger's answer's are correct, and Sarvowinner's Medici and Prato answers are correct. Now that I'm changing the clue re the portrait subject to 10 letters, I know you will figure out which Medici was portrayed. All that's left to figure out is the name of the artist. (Sarvowinner: How did you get the location of the painting and part of the name of the subject without getting the name of the painter? You must've passed right by it in your search.)

The rest doesn't seem that hard to Google -- when I put in "artist san friano medici" I get Maso Da San Friano.

http://www.pratoartestoria.it/id327.htm

I guess Ferdinando is the first name?

Ger or Sarvowinner can take the next clue.