Simone Martini
(1284 - 1344) |
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Painter of the Sienese School, religious subjects such as altarpieces and devotional works; portraits, elegant and innovative, three-dimensional figurative paintings Art Work
| Name: |
Simone Martini |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Sienna, Italy |
| Nationality: |
Italian |
| Birth: |
1284 |
| Death: |
1344 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
Painter of the Sienese School, religious subjects such as altarpieces and devotional works; portraits, elegant and innovative, three-dimensional figurative paintings |
| Medium: |
Fresco |
| Method: |
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| Style: |
International Gothic style |
| Fine Art Profession(s): |
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Biography
| Simone Martini was born in Siena in Italy during a period when the city was a leading cultural center, rivaled only by Florence. Nothing is known about his early life. It is thought, though, he studied under Duccio di Buoninsegna, the leader of the Sienese school. It was a time when the Florentine painter Giotto overturned the rules of Gothic and Byzantine painting, and developed a set of conventions that would lay the foundations of Renaissance art. The first authenticated painting by Martini is the Maestd (c.1316) in the Palazzo Pubblko in Siena.The graceful painting's three-dimensional forms and space are convincing, and rather radical for the time. Martini was highly valued and respected as a painter and was paid a handsome salary from 1317 by the Angevin court. This helped fund the huge task of painting the fresco cycle in the Chapel of St. Martin in the Basilica of San Francesco d'Asstsi in Assisi. By the 1320s, Martini was a wealthy man. In 1324 he married Giovanna, the sister of the painter Lippo Memmi. He and his brother-in-law collaborated on many works, notably The Annunciation with Two Saints (1333). In the late 1330s he moved to Avignon, the new seat of the Holy See and a thriving cultural center. The meeting of northern European and Italian art laid the foundations for the International Gothic style, and Martini was a leading proponent He was also an innovator in both his choice of subject matter and its treatment His depiction of the Holy Family in Christ Discovered in the Temple (1342) focuses on a moment from the Gospel narrative that had never been portrayed before by any artist and shows the Virgin's attempt to comprehend the divine nature of her son. |
Samples of Work
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