Giovanni dal Ponte was a Florentine minor master painter of the late-Gothic period, known as one of the greatest minor masters contemporary to Masaccio. He is known by Giorgio Vasari as dal Ponte, a name derived from the location of his studio at the Piazza di Santo Stefano a Ponte. Many other documents cite his name as Giovanni di Marco. After joining the Arte dei Medici e degli Speziali in 1410 and the Compagnia di S Luca in 1413, dal Ponte opened his studio in the late 1420s and hired Florentine painter Smeraldo di Giovanni as his assistant. Smeraldo was hired after dal Ponte was imprisoned in 1424 due to failure to repay his debts, with the intention that Smeraldo would manage the logistical aspects of the workshop in addition to his artwork. Dal Ponte used his craftsmanship to create not only Panel paintings, but also frescoes and decorations for small objects. Dal Ponte's work is considered to be of the Late Gothic style, though he assimilated the stylistic preferences of his contemporaries; Lorenzo Monaco, Masaccio, and Lorenzo Ghiberti served as his primary influences.
Giovanni dal Ponte established rapport as an artist by creating marriage chests, Cassone or forzieri, for Illarione dei Bardi in 1422. Following the positive reception of his work for Illarione, dal Ponte was commissioned by Giovannozo and Paolo Biliotti in 1427 and Bardo di Francesco de' Bardi in 1430 to create similar pieces. While he was best known for these marriage chests, he also painted candlesticks and banners, or drappelloni, and domestic tabernacles, cassoni or colmi, and in fact is noted as an outstanding talent in the latter form. In 1427, Giovanni gilded candlesticks for the Bigallo, a lay charitable organization associated with Santa Maria Nuova. From 1429 to 1435, dal Ponte became involved with larger projects, including several fresco cycles at Santa Trinita. The frescoes included scenes from the life of Saint Paul in the Cappella d'Abbaco and Saint Bartholemew and Saint Peter's martyrdom in the Cappella Scali. Dal Ponte designed several Triptychs in 1434; the two most famous are his two versions of the Annunciation, created in 1430 and 1435, which are located at Santa Maria in Rosano and the Pinacoteca Vaticana in Rome, respectively. In 1434, Giovanni painted a small altarpiece for the Oratorio di S. Eugenio a Pugliano. The altarpiece depicts the Annunciation with Saints Eugenio, Benedict, John the Baptist and Nicholas, and still resides in the church. The altarpiece identifies its patron as Abbess Caterina da Castiglionchio, a member of the powerful Castiglionchio family of lords.
In 1424, dal Ponte was imprisoned because he had failed to repay his debts. In 1427, after finishing his prison sentence and seeking financial solvency, dal Ponte decided to initiate a collaboration with Smeraldo di Giovanni, an older, experienced painter who had worked with Ambrogio di Baldese in 1403. While Giovanni sought out the partnership for fear of financial ruin, Smeraldo did so because he was receiving too few commissions. The artists probably had not worked together prior to the inception of their workshop collaboration. The coordination took the form of a limited partnership. Dal Ponte earned sixty-five percent of the shop's profits, with the remainder going to Smeraldo, though dal Ponte was responsible for the shop's rent payments, while Smeraldo was not, making the agreement fairly equitable. The structure of their arrangement parallels that of Bicci di Lorenzo and Stefano d'Antonio, in the sense that the greater painters received a much higher rate of compensation than their assistants. In fact, it is thought likely that Giovanni and Smeraldo's arrangement created the opportunity for Bicci and Stefano's partnership of the same nature. Their workshop was adept at many forms of craft, including the creation of Giovanni's reputation-making marriage chests as well as banners, though it appears that at the beginning, the shop was best known for its cassoni. It was staffed by many artisans employed on a temporary basis, which allowed the workshop flexibility as its ornamental chest business accelerated toward the end of the 1420s. For example, of the artisans hired to assist in the workshop in 1427, six were woodworkers (the shop also employed blacksmiths, goldsmiths, and other painters).
The painters shared their commissions and tools, though dal Ponte was ultimately responsible for the management of the workshop. This agreement appears to have been acceptable to both artists, as they renewed their contract in 1431. Although the two artists shared commissions and tools with one another, their work appears to have been carried out autonomously through the division of labor. For example, each artist would oversee the execution of one work, as was done when Giovanni oversaw a forzieri for Giovannozo and Paolo Bigliotti while Smeraldo oversaw a forzieri for Matteo degli Strozzi.

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