Simone Martini
Simone MartiniSimone Martini
Simone Martini was an Italian painter and a master of the Sienese school. He was active during the 13th and the 14th centuries and is thought of to be a pupil of Duccio. It is known he died August 4, 1344 in Avignon. �If we are to believe Vasari, who tells us that on Simone's tomb there was an epitaph stating that he had died at the age of sixty, then the artist must have been born around 1284� (Kren). He lived most of his life in Sienna (where he was born) and Tuscany, later he spent time in Avignon, where he perished.
Simone Martini is remembered for the continuance of the techniques and �the sophisticated colour harmonies implicit in Duccio�s� work yet assembled an individual style of his own to be recognized and remembered(Kren). �He developed the use of outline for the sake of linear rhythm� and later incorporated a gothic spirituality in his work (Kren).
The Maesta, one of Simone�s first commissioned works for the Palazzo Pubblico�s Council Chamber in Siena, successfully solved the techniques for indicating three-dimensional space. � Simone unites the composition through the subtle relation of interweaving diagonals, and diagonally directed curves; these are carried out with remarkable consistency in the figures and drapery patterns, from the base line up to the off-center placing of the angels who hold a heavenly crown above the enthroned saint� (Hartt, 109). Also in the �Palazzo Pubblico one of his most celebrated works, the fresco of Guidoriccio da Fogliano, a commemoration of the conquest of the castle of Montemassi in 1328 (the date, "MCCCXXVIII," under the fresco refers to the conquest and not to the fresco)� (Kren). This painting, depicts Guidoriccio on the scene of battle leading the Sienese troops after having reconquered the rebellious Caste of Montemassi in 1228-1230, verifies a noteworthy and eminent political occurrence of militant significance. �In the 1970s, the famous fresco, which had always been, considered the greatest example of Martini's artistic excellence, was re-attributed to a much later artist. The controversy that followed this re-attribution, further stimulated by the discovery of a fresco below the Guidoriccio (a very beautiful one, and certainly much older as can be seen from the overlapping of the intonaco), turned into an animated diatribe that has not yet been placated� (Kren).
Simone was also renowned for the outstanding creation of altarpieces and poliptychs, in which to the resplendency of the painter is added the patient refinery of a goldsmith, which is best, exemplified in Martini�s Annunciation, which today can be found in the Uffizi Museum in Florence, Italy. The painting was originally composed for the Siena Cathedral in 1333. �This is the earliest known example in which the Annunciation was the subject of an entire altarpiece� (Hartt, 110). Gabriel�s floating cloak indicates the suddenness of the angel�s arrival. The Virgin�s body position portrays the awkwardness of the heavenly angel�s news and arrival. It is noted in the bible Mary was disquieted by the arrival and emergence of Gabriel. Martini put to use raised gesso to assemble words that extend from Gabriel�s mouth towards Mary�s ear (110). The words: �Ave gratia plena dominus tecum� translate to �Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee� (Luke 1:28) are placed across the gold plated background (110). The Annunciation is still considered one of the greatest achievements of the Sienese school and successfully captures the expressive emotions of the moment.
Simone�s final years were spent in Avignon, �a Provencal city then the seat of papacy� (111). There, Martini gained a proclivity for French Gothic painting and began to spread the International Gothic style. �The Carrying of the Cross is one of six panels of a portable polyptych which has now been dismantled (other panels are in Antwerp and Berlin-Dalheim)� (Louvre). Martini captures the tension in the moment by almost over populating the crowd of people gathered around to watch the path of Christ. �Its most salient features, however, are the clear narrative line, jewel-like colours, stamped gold and a linear elegance, all of which mark the art of the most brilliant representative of Gothic painting in Italy� (Louvre).
In Simone�s final years his style captured the naturalistic and French Gothic mannerism. As Hartt notes, Simone�s late style helped develop a �new naturalism� and transformed the stylistic methods of painters in Northern Europe.
Hartt, Fredrick. History of Italian Renaissance Art,
Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Fourth Edition. Prentice Hall and Abrams Publishers, 1994.
Kren, Emil. Web Gallery Art.
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Lourve Museum
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