Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–50,
book cover
The early C14th in central Italy was a golden moment for art and change. Artists Duccio, Simone Martini and the brothers Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti were forging a new way of painting. They painted with a drama not seen before. Faces showed vibrant emotions. Bodies moved in space. Stories flowed across panels.
Name a key Renaissance Italian city-state and many people will say Florence. But C14th Siena was wealthy and had a stable government, with plenty of patrons, both religious and secular. And as a centre for trade and pilgrimage, Siena artists were exposed to new ideas and styles. Ideal for talented artists to grow and to foster fame in Florence.
This London exhibition makes the case for the 1300-1350 era being a critical moment in Siena’s art history. Firstly, Siena was an important banking centre in Western Europe, leading to prosperity and to art patrons. This was true for private devotional objects or for more public displays of faith and wealth. Secondly Siena was a cosmopolitan place to meet new ideas. Eg see how Sienese artists encountered Gothic works from France and adapted them into their own context. Thirdly there is a whole section on textiles which came from the east and found their way into art works. Siena’s status as a trade centre and a pilgrimage route stop from Canterbury to Rome enabled this cultural exchange.
In the decades pre-1350, Siena was the site of fine artistic innovation and activity. Drawing on the quality collections of NY Met and National Gallery London, as well as loans from other major lenders, the exhibition includes 100+ works by remarkable Sienese artists. It features paintings, metal work, sculptures and textiles. And this shared exhibition with The Met focuses on the artists noted above.
After centuries of separation, the exhibition reunited panels that once formed part of Duccio’s monumental Maestà altarpiece. Panels from Martini’s glittering Orsini work finally came together. Gilded glass, ivory Madonnas, illuminated manuscripts, rugs and silks show the creative energy flowing between European artists.
Many thanks to saltertonartreview. And enjoy Joanna Cannon’s book Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–50, 2024
Name a key Renaissance Italian city-state and many people will say Florence. But C14th Siena was wealthy and had a stable government, with plenty of patrons, both religious and secular. And as a centre for trade and pilgrimage, Siena artists were exposed to new ideas and styles. Ideal for talented artists to grow and to foster fame in Florence.
This London exhibition makes the case for the 1300-1350 era being a critical moment in Siena’s art history. Firstly, Siena was an important banking centre in Western Europe, leading to prosperity and to art patrons. This was true for private devotional objects or for more public displays of faith and wealth. Secondly Siena was a cosmopolitan place to meet new ideas. Eg see how Sienese artists encountered Gothic works from France and adapted them into their own context. Thirdly there is a whole section on textiles which came from the east and found their way into art works. Siena’s status as a trade centre and a pilgrimage route stop from Canterbury to Rome enabled this cultural exchange.
In the decades pre-1350, Siena was the site of fine artistic innovation and activity. Drawing on the quality collections of NY Met and National Gallery London, as well as loans from other major lenders, the exhibition includes 100+ works by remarkable Sienese artists. It features paintings, metal work, sculptures and textiles. And this shared exhibition with The Met focuses on the artists noted above.
Simone Martini, Christ Discovered in the Temple, 1342
National Museums Liverpool
Why did the glory era end in 1350? The Black Death/bubonic plague was ruining Europe, Asia and Africa’s people. And being a trade centre, on a pilgrimage route, became dangerous; Siena suffered as most cities and towns did. It had been easier for artists to work on commissions in times of peace & stability. Fortunately Siena’s artistic efforts did have a lasting influence, post plague.
A public display of intimate objects was created for private devotion. With 100+ exhibits made by artisans working in Siena, Naples, Avignon and beyond, see some of Europe’s earliest, most significant art works. The London and the Met’s shows are used to bring together the very best.
It is important to focus on the artists singly. By seeing many examples of their work, visitors can examine their style, themes and the commissions the artists received. Focusing on artists who knew each other personally and professionally also gives a sense of Siena’s artistic community. The exhibition’s individual biographies allow viewers to consider how each career met the city’s civic, religious and political institutions. Each depiction of the Virgin Mary, patron saint of Siena, was important.
The art space suits the biographical approach and the curators’ notes are great. The visitors can set the scene with a few Byzantine-style icons helping them understand why these Sienese paintings are innovative and thematic. Duccio was the earlier of the artists, so start with him and then, in the central space, see the other artists...and their legacy.
What was confusing was the change of individual artists and broader themes eg the artistic and historic background first, followed by Duccio. His masterpiece, the Maestà altarpiece for Siena Cathedral, occupies the hub of the hub and spokes. 2 of the spokes focus primarily on major works by Simone Martini and Pietro Lorenzetti. But look at connections between this Lorenzetti and sculptor Tino di Camaino. Then at religious devotional objects and the depiction of textiles, and work by the Lorenzettis.
Alas the exhibition kept switching to broader themes before it finished with the biographical approach. Surely the layout is chronological, explaining why the artists come in order, with contemporary trends inserting themselves in between.
Why did the glory era end in 1350? The Black Death/bubonic plague was ruining Europe, Asia and Africa’s people. And being a trade centre, on a pilgrimage route, became dangerous; Siena suffered as most cities and towns did. It had been easier for artists to work on commissions in times of peace & stability. Fortunately Siena’s artistic efforts did have a lasting influence, post plague.
A public display of intimate objects was created for private devotion. With 100+ exhibits made by artisans working in Siena, Naples, Avignon and beyond, see some of Europe’s earliest, most significant art works. The London and the Met’s shows are used to bring together the very best.
It is important to focus on the artists singly. By seeing many examples of their work, visitors can examine their style, themes and the commissions the artists received. Focusing on artists who knew each other personally and professionally also gives a sense of Siena’s artistic community. The exhibition’s individual biographies allow viewers to consider how each career met the city’s civic, religious and political institutions. Each depiction of the Virgin Mary, patron saint of Siena, was important.
The art space suits the biographical approach and the curators’ notes are great. The visitors can set the scene with a few Byzantine-style icons helping them understand why these Sienese paintings are innovative and thematic. Duccio was the earlier of the artists, so start with him and then, in the central space, see the other artists...and their legacy.
What was confusing was the change of individual artists and broader themes eg the artistic and historic background first, followed by Duccio. His masterpiece, the Maestà altarpiece for Siena Cathedral, occupies the hub of the hub and spokes. 2 of the spokes focus primarily on major works by Simone Martini and Pietro Lorenzetti. But look at connections between this Lorenzetti and sculptor Tino di Camaino. Then at religious devotional objects and the depiction of textiles, and work by the Lorenzettis.
Alas the exhibition kept switching to broader themes before it finished with the biographical approach. Surely the layout is chronological, explaining why the artists come in order, with contemporary trends inserting themselves in between.
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, The Annunciation 1344.
Tempera and gold leaf on panel, 122 x 116 cm
Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
One of the interesting legacies of this generation of Sienese painters is how their influence extended beyond Siena eg to the Papal Court in Avignon. Martini played a pivotal role there, taking Sienese painting to Avignon in 1330s and dying there in 1344. His works helped transmit the elegance, linear refinement and emotional nuance of Sienese painting.
The emphasis on grace, storytelling and beautifully controlled surfaces marked the International Gothic style. While the rest of the exhibition shows Sienese artists featuring French Gothic & Northern European styles, see Siena’s influence on France’s, Bohemia’s and early Dutch art.
The Sienese commitment to story-telling and decorative richness left a clear mark, separate from the Florentine emphasis on anatomy and emotion. So while Siena’s Golden Age was short, its visual language lived on in courts and church settings where visual rhetoric overcame naturalism.
Duccio’s Maestà panels haven’t been together for ages. A great example is Simone Martini’s Orsini Polyptych where the diptych and triptych joined together in a multiple altarpiece. This devotional work was done for Card. Napoleone Orsini. Close it like a book, open it to an Annunciation scene or totally unfold it to reveal Christ’s tragic end. This show reunites them after being in the Louvre, Belgium and Berlin.
Tempera and gold leaf on panel, 122 x 116 cm
Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
One of the interesting legacies of this generation of Sienese painters is how their influence extended beyond Siena eg to the Papal Court in Avignon. Martini played a pivotal role there, taking Sienese painting to Avignon in 1330s and dying there in 1344. His works helped transmit the elegance, linear refinement and emotional nuance of Sienese painting.
The emphasis on grace, storytelling and beautifully controlled surfaces marked the International Gothic style. While the rest of the exhibition shows Sienese artists featuring French Gothic & Northern European styles, see Siena’s influence on France’s, Bohemia’s and early Dutch art.
The Sienese commitment to story-telling and decorative richness left a clear mark, separate from the Florentine emphasis on anatomy and emotion. So while Siena’s Golden Age was short, its visual language lived on in courts and church settings where visual rhetoric overcame naturalism.
Duccio’s Maestà panels haven’t been together for ages. A great example is Simone Martini’s Orsini Polyptych where the diptych and triptych joined together in a multiple altarpiece. This devotional work was done for Card. Napoleone Orsini. Close it like a book, open it to an Annunciation scene or totally unfold it to reveal Christ’s tragic end. This show reunites them after being in the Louvre, Belgium and Berlin.
Duccio 's Maesta altarpiece, 1308-11
Siena Cathedral
After centuries of separation, the exhibition reunited panels that once formed part of Duccio’s monumental Maestà altarpiece. Panels from Martini’s glittering Orsini work finally came together. Gilded glass, ivory Madonnas, illuminated manuscripts, rugs and silks show the creative energy flowing between European artists.
Many thanks to saltertonartreview. And enjoy Joanna Cannon’s book Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–50, 2024
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2 comments:
Hello Hels, This is an exhibit I would like to see. In the 19th century, James Jackson Jarves, a collector way ahead of his time, appreciated and formed a large collection of early Italian "primitive" paintings, many of them from Siena. These were purchased by Yale University in a roundabout way in the 1870's, and a later collection by Jarves was purchased by Clevelander Liberty Holden, who donated them to the Cleveland Museum of Art. I wonder if any of these paintings were included in this London exhibition.
--Jim
To witness these long-separated masterpieces, once scattered across Europe, reunited in a single space is nothing short of profound, a luminous tribute to Siena’s brief but brilliant artistic flame
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