Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Sienese School
Giotto wasn't the only painter of his time to experiment with form, colour and composi-
tion and create a radical new style. The great Sienese master Duccio di Buoninsegna (c
1255-1319) successfully breathed new life into the old Byzantine forms using light and
shade. His preferred medium was panel painting and his major work is probably his
Maes-
tÃ
(Virgin Mary in Majesty; 1311) in Siena's Museo dell'Opera Metropolitana.
It was in Siena, too, that two new trends took off: the introduction of court painters and
the advent of secular art.
The first of many painters to be given ongoing commissions by one major patron or
court, Simone Martini (c 1284-1344) was almost as famous as Giotto in his day. His best-
known painting is the stylised
MaestÃ
(1315-16) in Siena's Museo Civico, in which he pi-
oneered his famous iridescent palette (one colour transformed into another within the
same plane).
Also working in Siena at this time were the Lorenzetti brothers, Pietro (c 1280-1348)
and Ambrogio (c 1290-1348), who are considered the greatest exponents of what, for a
better term, can be referred to as secular painting. Ambrogio's magnificent
Allegories of
Good and Bad Government
(1337-40) in the Museo Civico lauds the fruits of good gov-
ernment and the gruesome results of bad. In the frescoes, he applies the rules of perspect-
ive with an accuracy previously unseen, as well as significantly developing the Italian
landscape tradition. In
Life in the Country,
one of the allegories, Ambrogio successfully
depicts the time of day, the season, colour reflections and shadows - a naturalistic depic-
tion of landscape that was quite unique at this time.
