Filippo Rusuti: A Pioneer of Roman Fresco Painting Filippo Rusuti (c. 1255 – c. 1325) stands as a cornerstone figure in the late thirteenth-century Roman school, an artistic movement that irrevocably transformed European painting and cemented Rome’s position as a center for artistic innovation. While overshadowed by luminaries like Giotto and Duccio, Rusuti's contribution to Byzantine-influenced fresco decoration—particularly his monumental works adorning St. Mary Major Basilica and the Church of Santa Maria Donna Regina Vecchia—offers invaluable insight into the intellectual and aesthetic c…