1000 Paintings of Genius. Victoria Charles

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      22. Simone Martini, 1284–1344, Gothic Art, Sienese School, Italian, Maestà (detail), 1317, Fresco, Palazzo Pubblico, San Gimignano

      In this painting, the traces of Byzantine influence remain such as in the style of throne and stacking of figures as if on tiers. But overall the influence of the Gothic painters Duccio and Giotto are in greater evidence. Several of the saints carry symbols of themselves, often the instruments of their martyrdom. Each pole supporting the canopy is held by one of the saints. While the size of each figure is somewhat uniform, the Byzantine tradition of sizing figures in proportion to their importance still remains. This piece is the artist’s earliest known work. The transparency of the angelic gowns is not an accidental effect from top layers fading over the years, but rather the effect is the result of a clever technique. Only seven years after its competition it had to be restored because of water damage. The fresco is surrounded by a frame decorated with twenty medallions depicting the Blessing Christ, the Prophets and the Evangelists and with smaller shields containing the coat-of-arms of Siena.

      Simone Martini

      (1284 Siena – 1344 Avignon)

      A Sienese painter, he was a student of Duccio. Influenced by his master and by the sculptures of Giovanni Pisano, he was even more influenced by French gothic art. First painting in Sienna, he worked as a court painter for the French Kingdom in Naples where he started to incorporate non-religious characters in his paintings. Then he worked in Assisi and Florence where he painted with his brother-in-law Lippo Memmi.

      In 1340–41 Simone Martini went to Avignon in France, where he met Petrarch, illustrating a Virgil codex for him. His last works were created in Avignon where he died. Simone Martini gave a great sweetness to his religious compositions while, at the same time, he was the first who dared to employ his art for purposes not wholly religious.

      23. Jean Pucelle, c. 1300–55, Gothic Art, French, The Betrayal of Christ and Annunciation, from the Hours of Jeanne d’Evreux, 1325–28. Tempera and gold leaf on parchment, 8.9 × 6.2 cm (each page), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

      24. Francesco Traini, active 1321–63, Early Renaissance, Italian, The Triumph of Death (detail), c. 1325–50, Fresco, Campo Santo, Pisa

      25. Maso di Banco, active 1320–50, Early Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, Pope St Sylvester’s Miracle, c. 1340, Fresco, Cappella di Bardi di Vernio, Santa Croce, Florence

      Here Maso di Banco represents the scene of the "dragon miracle": on the left the Pope chains the dragon, then he brings the dead Magi back to life. On the right side, Emperor Constantine and his suite look at the scene in astonishment.

      Maso di Banco

      (active 1320–1350)

      Florentine painter, Maso di Banco is undoubtedly the greatest pupil of Giotto but as he was not mentioned by Vasari we don’t know much of his career. His greatest works are the frescoes illustrating the legend of St Sylvester in the Bardi Chapel of Santa Croce in Florence where one can appreciate the clarity of his work and the harmonies of colours. As he was a follower of Ghiberti, his work also shows architectural settings and massive figures that anticipate the monumental style of Piero della Francesca and Masaccio.

      26. Ambrogio Lorenzetti, c. 1290–1348, Early Renaissance, Sienese School, Italian, Scenes of the Life of St Nicholas: St Nicholas Offers Three Girls Their Dowry, 1327–32. Tempera on panel, 96 × 53 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

      27. Ambrogio Lorenzetti, c. 1290–1348, Early Renaissance, Sienese School, Italian, Scenes of the Life of St Nicholas: St Nicholas Is Elected Bishop of Mira, 1327–32. Tempera on panel, 96 × 53 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

      28. Ambrogio Lorenzetti, c. 1290–1348, Early Renaissance, Sienese School, Italian, The Presentation in the Temple, 1327–32. Tempera on panel, 257 × 138 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

      29. Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi, 1284–1344 and 1317–47, Early Renaissance, Sienese School, Italian, Altar of The Annunciation, 1333. Tempera on panel, 184 × 210 cm, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

      Simone Martini comes from the same school as Duccio. He followed the Pope to Avignon, in 1344, during the Schism. The frame of this painting was added in the nineteenth century. The Virgin is represented without volume; she is more spirit than substance and can be compared on that point to Duccio’s virgins. Looking for beauty and the depiction of details, the painter moves away from the works by Giotto. Simone Martini uses a much nuanced game of colours (gold, browns and pinks). He introduces depth in the foreground, using an edge that gives emphasis to the distance and that obliges the viewer to step back. His study of perspective from nature is made obvious on the depiction of the vase in the centre.

      30. Simone Martini, 1284–1344, Gothic Art, Sienese School, Italian, Equestrian Portrait of Guidoricco da Fogliano (detail), 1328–30, Fresco, 340 × 968 cm, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

      31. Ambrogio Lorenzetti, c. 1290–1348, Early Renaissance, Sienese School, Italian, Allegory of the Good Government, 1338–39, Fresco, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

      The artist’s view of his entire town and countryside are captured as large frescos in the Sala della Pace, Palazzo, Siena, the town’s city hall. This fresco is a political propaganda, celebrating the virtues of the Administration of the Commune. The Bad Government is illustrated by the devilish figure of Discordia, and the Good Government is personified by the diverse emblems of Virtue and Concordia. The reproductions of the frescos are rarely from the visitor’s floor level point of view. However, from that vantage point the perspectives was more as intended, with the small figures in the foreground and often the larger figures higher on the wall but apparently further in the distance. Ambrogio’s amazing sense of space was mastered later by his brother Pietro in his Birth of the Virgin (1342).

      Ambrogio Lorenzetti

      (c. 1290–1348 Sienna)

      Ambrogio Lorenzetti, like his brother Pietro, belonged to the Sienese School dominated by the Byzantine tradition. They were the first Sienese to adopt the naturalistic approach of Giotto. There is also evidence that the brothers borrowed tools from each other. They were both major masters of naturalism. With the three-dimensional, Ambrogio foreshadowed the art of the Renaissance. He is well known for the fresco cycle Allegory of the Good and Bad Government, remarkable for their depiction of characters and of Sienese scenes. The frescos on the wall of the Hall of Nine (Sala della Pace) in the Palazzo Pubblico are one of the masterworks of their secular programs. Ghiberti regarded Ambrogio as the greatest of Sienese СКАЧАТЬ