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The city of Sienna, one of Italy's major artistic centres, was home to many celebrated painters, among them
Duccio, Simone Martini, Ambrogio
and Pietro Lorenzetti, Sassetta and Beccafumi. This
generously illustrated book provides a survey of Sienese
painting from 1260 to 1555, an era of extraordinary artistic creativity in
the Tuscan city. Art historian Diana Norman addresses the style and artistic
technique of Sienese painters throughout the three
centuries and explores why paintings were made, where they were originally
seen, and how they were used and enjoyed by their audiences.
The book focuses on works of art made for Siena itself, many of which
are still to be seen within the city. Norman organizes the
discussion around types of commissions and examines selected works by
well-known and lesser-known artists, as well as non-Sienese
painters who worked in the city, including Pintoricchio,
Signorelli, and Sodoma.
She examines the style, technique, subject matter, circumstances of
commissioning, and function of particular paintings that demonstrate not only
the inherent richness of Sienese art but also its
original and distinctive relationship to artistic developments elsewhere in Italy. Norman also explores the high
degree of continuity within Sienese painting,
shedding light on the frequency of images of the Virgin Mary and on the
common practice of Sienese painters in emulating
earlier, highly venerated paintings in the city. Throughout the book, the
author situates the works within the context of the political, social and
religious circumstances of late medieval and renaissance Siena.
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