Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300-1350

In the early 1300s the city of Siena gave rise to an extraordinary period of creativity and innovation

Painters, sculptors and goldsmiths produced remarkable works whose impact was felt far beyond the city’s walls. From vast altarpieces to portable objects for private devotion, the art emanating from Siena left an enduring legacy. This book explores a crucial turning point in Italian art, when the prestige of painting reached new heights. Siena became the centre of a rich exchange of ideas, as painters took inspiration from marble and ivory sculptures, intricate metalwork and precious imported silks to enhance the power of their work. Travelling beyond their native city, Sienese artists made their mark across Italy and into northern Europe. Beautifully illustrated and featuring important new scholarship, chapters explore masterpieces by four of Siena’s most illustrious painters - Duccio, Simone Martini, and Ambrogio and Pietro Lorenzetti - alongside objects in other media and from other countries and cultures, encouraging fresh perspectives and dialogues between these groundbreaking works.

Published by National Gallery Global/Distributed by Yale University Press.

Exhibition Schedule:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
7 October 2024-26 January 2025
The National Gallery, London
5 March-22 June 2025

Joanna Cannon specialises in the art and architecture of Italy in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. She is Professor Emerita at the Courtauld Insitute of Art, London.