Sienese Painting: From Duccio to the Birth of the Baroque
Sienese painting is often thought of in reference to the strikingly colorful and beautifully designed paintings of Duccio di Buoninsegna, Simone Martini, and the Lorenzetti brothers, from the dawn of the Italian Renaissance. This sumptuous book carefully traces that glorious early heritage. But it also extends its reach forward to about 1700 in order to include many later artists, with whom readers may not be as familiar, such as Rutilio Manetti, whose passionate style was radically altered after he came into contact with the revolutionary work of Caravaggio. The last chapters contain Baroque paintings of extraordinary color and warmth, such as Domenico Beccafumi's shadowy, sweetAnnunciation. Nonetheless, it is the almost magically compelling early Sienese masters who dominate this volume. Lorenzetti's intricateEffects of Good Government in the Town and Countryside, for example, from the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena, is thoughtfully reproduced both in its entirety, in a four-page fold-out, and in many details that do justice to such minutiae as the chain holding two hunting dogs together, or a pheasant flushed from a wheat field. Even amateur art lovers will sense both the piety and the struggle toward naturalism that inform the earliest of these works. The angel whispering to the saint, the rich red robe of Christ, Mary's sober countenance--all seem imbued with fervor, both painterly and religious.This book gives the reader the closest possible look at these masterworks.  It is organized chronologically, with thoroughly documented texts on each period and every work, printed in excellent, well-spaced type. One small flaw in an otherwise beautifully designed book: there are no dates or measurements in the captions.--Peggy Moorman