1000 Paintings of Genius. Victoria Charles
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 fourteenth-century painters.
32. Bernardo Daddi (Attributed to), c. 1290–1350, Early Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, Crucifixion, c. 1335. Tempera on panel, 36 × 23.5 cm, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D. C.
Daddi is believed to have been Giotto’s student and his work strongly shows his influence. Daddi, on his side, influenced Florentine art until the second half of the century.
33. Ambrogio Lorenzetti, c. 1290–1348, Early Renaissance, Sienese School, Italian, Madonna and Child Enthroned with Angels and Saints, c. 1340. Tempera on panel, 50.5 × 34.5 cm, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
34. Master of Kaufmann, Early Renaissance, Bohemian, The Crucifixion of Christ, c. 1340. Tempera on panel, 76 × 29.5 cm, Gemäldegalerie, Alte Meister, Berlin
35. Hohenfuhrth Master, Early Renaissance, Bohemian, The Agony in the Garden, c. 1350. Tempera on panel, 100 × 92 cm, Narodni Galeri, Prague
36. Master of the Berlin Nativity, Early Renaissance, Bavarian, Nativity, 1330–40. Tempera on panel, 33 × 24 cm, Gemäldegalerie, Alte Meister, Berlin
37. Ambrogio Lorenzetti, c. 1290–1348, Early Renaissance, Sienese School, Italian, Birth of the Virgin, 1342. Tempera on panel, 188 × 183 cm, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena
38. Andrea di Cione Orcagna, c. 1320–68, Gothic Art, Florentine School, Italian, The Redeemer with the Madonna and Saints, 1354–57. Tempera on panel, Strozzi Chapel, Santa Maria Novella, Florence
It was originally the altarpiece of the Strozzi Chapel of Santa Maria Novella, Florence. In this painting Orcagna reverted from a more naturalistic style to the Byzantine remote and monumental figural type with resplendent colours and lavish use of gold.
39. Bohemian Master, Gothic Art, Bohemian, Death of the Virgin, 1355–60. Tempera on panel, 100 × 71 cm, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
40. Master of the Eichhorn Madonna, Gothic Art, Bohemian, Eichhorn Madonna, c. 1350. Tempera on panel, 79 × 63 cm, Narodni Galeri, Prague
41. Giovanni da Milano, active 1346–69, Gothic Art, Italian, Pietà, 1365. Tempera on panel, 122 × 58 cm. Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence
42. Andrea di Cione Orcagna, c. 1320–68, Gothic Art, Florentine School, Italian, St Matthew and Four Stories from his Life, 1367. Tempera on panel, 291 × 265 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
43. Giottino, c. 1320–69, Gothic Art, Florentine School, Italian, Pietà of San Remigio, c. 1360–65. Tempera on panel, 195 × 134 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
44. Tommasso da Modena, c. 1325–79, Gothic Art, Italian, The Departure of St Ursula, c. 1355–58. Tempera on panel, 233.5 × 220 cm, Museo Civico, Treviso
45. Matteo di Pacino, active 1359–94, Early Renaissance, Italian, St. Bernard’s Vision of the Virgin with Saints. Tempera on panel, 175 × 200 cm. Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence
46. Agnolo Gaddi, c. 1345–96, Early Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, Madonna of Humility with Six Angels, c. 1390. Tempera on panel, 118 × 58 cm. Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence
47. Melchior Broederlam, Early Renaissance, Dutch, The Dijon Altarpiece: Annunciation and Visitation; Presentation in the Temple and Flight into Egypt, 1394–99. Tempera on panel, 167 × 125 cm, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon
48. Named after Wilton House, International Gothic, French, The Wilton Diptych, Richard II presented to the Virgin and Child by his Patron Saint John the Baptist and Saints Edward and Edmund, c. 1395–99,