Duccio di Buoninsegna, Triptych with the Virgin and Child, Saints Dominic and Aurea, 1311-18. The National Gallery, London.
The exhibition Siena: The Rise of Painting will be at the National Gallery, London, from 8 March to 22 June 2025, following its acclaimed success in New York. Setting out to show how many of the innovations which we associate with the 15th-century Florentine Renaissance really have their origins in Siena a century before. Join Dr Richard Stemp for this two-part ARTscapades short course to investigate more closely; looking at the four key protagonists of this much lauded exhibition, and using our enhanced understanding of their paintings to interpret the works by their contemporaries – often in other media –which are also on display.
Includes two lectures, Q&A and a short break. Tickets £20
Part One — Duccio and Pietro Lorenzetti
Lecture One: On 9 June 1311 Duccio di Buoninsegna’s Maestà – which was famous in Siena even before its completion – was carried from his studio to the Cathedral in a celebratory procession of great splendour. The box supporting the heavy, double-sided painting, known as the predella, was the first to be decorated with stories from the bible, a practice which rapidly became a convention. As many of the panels from this predella will be included in the exhibition, we will start by considering the work as a whole. We will then look in depth at the other exhibited works by the master, notably the glorious triptychs from the Royal Collection and the National Gallery.
Once in position, the Maestà continued to be revered, to the extent that four altars were erected around it, each dedicated to one of the patron saints of Siena. However, given the overall dedication of the Cathedral – and the city, for that matter – to the Virgin Mary, the main subject matter of each was taken from the Life of the Virgin.
Lecture Two: Pietro Lorenzetti, the subject of our second talk, was commissioned to paint The Birth of the Virgin, and this painting will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of the exhibition. The lines of St Anne’s bedspread all converge to a single point, more than 70 years before Brunelleschi’s development of single vanishing point perspective. That this altarpiece has been loaned by Siena’s cathedral museum is as remarkable as the presence in the exhibition of Pietro’s Pieve Altarpiece from Arezzo: usually works on wooden panel from this date are considered too fragile to travel. We will look at both in great detail.
To book for Part Two of SHORT COURSE Four Sienese Artists please click here.
Siena: The Rise of Painting (1300-1350) is at the National Gallery, London, from 8 March to 22 June 2025.
This event will be recorded. Ticket holders are emailed a link to view the recording afterwards which is available for one month. Proceeds from ARTscapades ticket sales benefit museums, galleries and other arts-based organisations and projects.
This is an online event hosted on Zoom which can be watched live with Q&A, or on-demand for one month afterwards. You will receive your link to access the event in your email confirmation and the on-demand link after the event ends.