| |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
 |
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Annunciation, 1344, tempera on wood, 127 x 120 cm Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena |
|
 |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
Ambrogio Lorenzetti (1290 – 1348) was an Italian painter of the Sienese school. He was active between approximately from 1317 to 1348. After the departure of Simone Martini to Avignon in 1336, Ambrogio established a workshop in Siena.
His elder brother was the painter Pietro Lorenzetti. They were the first Sienese to adopt the dramatic quality of the Tuscan sculptor Giovanni Pisano and the naturalistic approach of the Florentine painter Giotto. In their experiments with three-dimensional, spatial arrangements, the brothers, particularly Ambrogio, foreshadowed the art of the Renaissance. Ambrogio, more realistic, inventive, and influential than Pietro, is best known for the fresco cycles Good Government and Bad Government (1338-39, Palazzo Publico, Siena), remarkable for their depiction of character and of the Sienese scene. He also painted Presentation in the Temple (1342, Uffizi, Florence) and Annunciation (1344, Pinacoteca, Siena). His work includes also the altarpiece Madonna and Child with Saints (1320, Santa Maria Della Pieve, Arezzo), dramatic frescoes in the lower Church of San Francisco in Assisi, and the Birth of the Virgin (C. 1342, Opera del Duomo, Siena).
Ambrogio Lorenzetti died from a plague in 1348.
Annunciation (1344). In this late and highly finished work Ambrogio abandons his usual earthy depiction of realistic and human detail in favour of emphasizing the almost Gothic elegance of the two characters. They face each other across a floor that is, however, painted in rigorous perspective. The signed and dated painting was executed in 1344 for the City Council of Siena.
Ambrogio Lorenzetti's most revolutionary achievement - one of the most remarkable accomplishments of the Renaissance - is the fresco series that lines three walls of the room in the Palazzo Pubblico where Siena's chief magistrates, the Nine, held their meetings (Sala dei Nove). These frescoes are collectively known as Allegory and Effects of Good and Bad Government.
The Allegory of Good Government depicts the personification of Justice as a woman. She gestures to the scales of balance, held by the personifcation of Wisdom floating over her throne. On the viewer's left, a convicted criminal is beheaded; on the right, figures receive the rewards of justice. At Justice's feet, the personification of Virtue, also, unusually for the time, portrayed as a female figure, passes virtue among twenty four faithfully rendered and recognizable images of prominent male citizens of Siena. The men face towards the largest figure in the image, a judge located in the center right. The judge is surrounded by additional personifications including Peace, who is represented as a fashionable, white-clad contemporary female figure with elaborate blonde hair. (Then as now, blonde hair was fashionable and seldom entirely natural; it was not the dominant natural hair color for Italian women from this region, and it was common for women to lighten their hair by streaking it with urine and heating it in the sun.)
The allegory carries a strong social message of the value of the stable republican government of Siena. It combines elements of secular life with references to the importance of religion in the city at the time. The figure of Justice resembles the figure of Mary, Queen of Heaven, the patron saint of Siena, on a throne. The Judge reflects the tradition in the Christian Last Judgment to have God or Christ judging the saved on the left; the damned on the right. While classified as medieval or proto (pre)-renaissance art, these paintings show a transition in thought and an evolution in theme from earlier religious art.
Flanking the Allegory are two other paintings on perpendicular walls: Effects of Good Government and Effects of Bad Government. Both these frescoes depict a recognizable view of Siena and its countryside.
In the allegorical representation of Good Government, the prosperous townspeople are trading and dancing in the streets. Beyond the city walls is a lush countryside in which crops are harvested.
In the allegory of Bad Government, crime is rampant and diseased citizens roam a crumbling city. The countryside suffers from drought. |
|
 |
Allegory of the Good Government, fresco in the Palazzo Pubblico, Siena |
Ambrogio Lorenzetti frescoed the side walls of the Council Room (Sala dei Nove) of the City Hall, the Palazzo Pubblico, of Siena. The subject of the frescoes are the Good and Bad Government and their effects on the life of the cities and villages.
The Allegory of the Good Government is situated on the smaller wall opposite to the windows. The composition is built up from three horizontal bands. In the foreground the figures of contemporary Siena are represented. Behind them, on a stage, there are allegoric figures in two groups, representing the Good Government. The two groups are connected by the procession of the councillors. The upper band indicates the heavenly sphere with the floating bodyless ghosts of the virtues.
The enthroned man on the right side of the middle band represents the city of Siena and embodies the Good Government. Around his head the four letters C S C V (Commune Saenorum Civitatis Virginis) explain his identity. At his feet the two plating children are the sons of Remus, Ascius and Senius, the founders of Siena according to the Roman legends. On both sides of Siena the virtues of Good Government are represented by six crowned, stately female figures: Peace, Fortitude and Prudence on the left, Magnanimity, Temperance and Justice on the right. On the far left of the fresco the figure of Justice is repeated as she is balancing the scales held by Wisdom. |
Effects of Good Government on the City Life (detail), fresco in the Palazzo Pubblico, Siena |
The Effect of the Good Goverment is situated on the longer wall of the room. This panoramic fresco represents several scenes indicating the life of Siena and its environment in the 14th century. This detail shows the centre of the city. In the middle the dancing young women probably represent the nine Muses. There are several genre like scenes in the picture (shops, chatting men, riders, working men on the roof etc.) |
| |
 |
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Bad Government and the Effects of Bad Government on the City Life (detail), fresco in the Palazzo Pubblico, Siena |
Bad Government and the Effects of Bad Government on the City Life
|
| On the wall opposite the Effect of Good Government and to the left of the Good Government Ambrogio painted another fresco called Bad Government and the Effects of Bad Government on the City Life, which uses the same forms and compositional devices as the other frescoes in the room, but inverts them. The malevolent-looking figure representing Bad Government, pointedly labeled as Tyranny, is enthroned and stares hieratically out at the observer.. Neither male nor female, it is fanged, cross-eyed, and porcine, clearly bloated with corruption. In place of the cardinal virtues, personifications of Avarice, Pride, and Vainglory fly over its head. Tyranny is flanked by clearly labeled seated figures representing Cruelty, Treason, and Fraud at the left, and Frenzy, Divisiveness, and War at the right. A bound figure representing Justice lies at its feet. The city to its left is falling into ruin, robbers roam the streets, and, in the foreground, a group of ruffians drags a woman by her hair. Even in its now ruinous condition the image conveys a dire warning. |
| |
 |
Effects of Bad Government on the Countryside (detail), 1338-40, fresco in Palazzo Pubblico, Siena |
Effects of Bad Government on the Countryside (detail)
|
In the hilly countryside the only activities are ones of death and destruction, setting fire to isolated houses and whole villages. The countryside is bare and barren, the trees bear no fruit and no one is cultivating the land.
The Allegory of the Bad Goverment is situated on the wall opposite to Allegory of Good Government. At the centre of the dais sits Tyrannia, with the appearence of a demon, with horns and fangs. The figure of Tyranny has flowing woman's hair, a cloak with gold embroidery and precious stones, a gold cup in her hand and a goat, the traditional symbol of lust, at her feet. Below is the vanquised Justitia: the scales are broken and scattered around her on the ground. Around Tyranny's throne are gathered the Vices. |
| |
The Funeral of the Virgin
|
This fresco is located on the north wall of the Cappella dei Signori in the Palazzo Pubblico. The Cappella dei Signori was constructed in about 1404-05 on the first floor of the Palazzo Pubblico, next to the important Sala del Mappamondo. As soon as the Cappella dei Signori was finished, the government commissioned Taddeo di Bartolo to paint its walls and vaulting, paying him for the work at regular intervals between 1406 and 1408.
The north wall of the chapel is embellished with four large mural paintings depicting events surrounding the death of the Virgin - the arrival of the apostles at her death bed, Christ receiving her soul at the moment of her death, the funeral procession to her burial site and Christ raising the body of the Virgin from her tomb. The Funeral of the Virgin in particular offers a sense of Taddeo di Bartolo's considerable abilities as a painter of narrative: the foreground is occupied by an impressive procession of monumentally conceived figures of different ages, genders and ethnic types. In the background, meanwhile, appears an assured view of a walled city, the buildings of which resemble those of Siena itself, yet making an implicit parallel between the holy city of Jerusalem and Siena. |
|
|
| |
|
Basilica of San Francesco, Siena
|
|
|
The Gothic Basilica di San Francesco (1326-1475) is a Franciscan church situated in the historical centre of Siena, at the end of via dei Rossi. Like the Basilica di San Domenico, the church has one nave and no apse. The bell tower was built in 1765. The church has a wooden roof and the interior painted with black and white stripes recalls the marble façade of the Cathedral.
The first chapel to the left of the presbytery contains Pietro Lorenzetti’s fresco of the Crucifixion, painted in 1331. The second chapel in the left hand section of the transept contains a further two masterpieces by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, two frescoes depicting St Ludovico of Anjou Before Boniface VIII and the Six Franciscans Martyred at Ceuta.
Opposite is the Chapel of the Sacrament, decorated by Marrina in 1502. A door to the left leads to the spacious and delicately proportioned Renaissance cloister, which contains a number of sculpture fragments such as the Portale della Cappella Petroni (1336) attributed to Domenico D’Agostino. The right hand door leads to the Seminary, where the chapel on the floor above contains the well known Madonna del Latte by Ambrogio Lorenzetti as well as a polyptych fresco by Lippo Vanni. |
|
 Saint Louis taking Leave of Boniface VIII, fresco (detached) in Church of San Francesco, Siena
|
One of the high points of small-scale Sienese painting is the so-called Small Maestà by Ambrogio Lorenzetti. Though small, it is breathtakingly beautiful. First of all there is the dazzling gold setting off the Madonna's outline, with angels emerging from it. Then there is the quality of color. Rarely in early Italian art does one find such as intense red, and in almost no other work has the costly lapis lazuli of the blue been so well preserved. Each part of the scene demands individual attention: the extremely delicate ornamentation and draughtmanship of the draperies, the saints' faces, and the magnificent display of color of the flowers in the golden vase in the foreground.
Of all the features of this unique painting, one does not at first notice its spatial organization. The radiance tends to mask the structure of the composition, yet this is perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the work. Here Ambrogio has resolved an artistic challenge that he also set himself in a large Maestà at Massa Marittima. The Small Maestà can be considered as an improved version of the Maestà at Massa Marittima.
In the center of the painting the Madonna is enthroned with the Christ Child, six angels flanking the throne at the back. On the left St Elizabeth of Hungary, on the right ST Catherine of Alexandria; kneeling on the left St Nicholas (?), in the left foreground Pope Clement I; on the right St Martin (?), in the right foreground Pope Gregory I can be seen.[3] |
|
|
| The painting (Madonna del'latte) is related to the earlier Madonna of Vico l'Abate, it demontrates the changes in the art of Ambrogio due to the influence of his elder brother Pietro with whom he worked together in the second half of the 1320s in the Franciscan monastery in Siena. |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
The origins of the Chiesa di Sant’Agostino in Siena date back to the 1200s and throughout the following centuries it has undergone numerous modifications. The most significant of these was carried out by Luigi Vanvitelli following the fire of 1747.
The interior is almost an art gallery with masterpieces of the calibre of the Crucifixion by Perugino, the Sybils by Luca Signorelli and the Maestà by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, discovered by chance in 1944 when the Adoration of the Three Kings by Sodoma was moved to save it from the bombardments. [2]
The church of Sant' Agostino also contains a chapel frescoed by Francesco di Giorgio and Luca Signorelli. These frescoes were discovered beneath an 18th-century plaster redecoration only in 1977. |
|
|
| |
|
|
 |
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Madonna with Angels and Saints (Maestà) |
|
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Madonna with Angels and Saints (Maestà)
|
|
|
The Museum of Sacred Art, organised within the museum complex of San Pietro all’Orto in Massa Marittima, houses one of the most well-known Italian paintings from the Middle Ages: the Maestà by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, one of the greatest interpreters of 14th-century Sienese painting. Ambrogio Lorenzetti followed the examples of the Maestà representations by both Duccio and Simone Martini.
This masterpiece was created during the mature years of the painter, who united a vibrant feeling of maternal love with customary medieval symbols, particularly in the pose of the Madonna, who is about to seal her deep bond to the Child with a kiss. The Madonna is seated on an original throne composed of the outspread wings of two angels. The throne is set on the last of three steps, upon which are sitting personifications of the three theological virtues. The figures represent: Faith in white, Hope in green and Charity in red.
|
|
|
|
|
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Madonna and Child in the Chiesa dei Santi Pietro e Paolo in Roccalbegna
|
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Madonna and Child in the Chiesa dei Santi Pietro e Paolo in Roccalbegna
|
| In the field of art, the town does not just enjoy absolute pre-eminence in this part of Grosseto Province, it is also considered to be one of the most important centres of the whole of Tuscany. The town’s works of art mainly belong to the medieval culture and that of Siena. The Chiesa Maggiore dei Santi Pietro e Paolo dating back to the XIII century, is in Romanic style and conserves an altar piece considered to be one of the most significant masterpieces of Ambrogio Lorenzetti. The construction of this religious building dates back to the thirteenth century. There is a nice architrave above the entrance door that inclines to the right. |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
The abandoned Cistercian Abbey of San Galgano with the Montesiepi hermitage rise in the valley of the river Merse, between the medieval villages of Chiusdino and Monticiano. The site is made up of two major attractions: the Gothic roofless cathedral and the unusually shaped monastery of Montesiepi, and ancient hermitage, which hosts the tomb of San Galgano and the sword in the stone.
According to the tradition, in 1180 on Christmas Day San Galgano fixed his sword into the stone in order to realize a cross. Now in Montesiepi's Hermitage a plexiglass shrine with the sword into the stone is still preserved.
The Round or Montesiepi’s Hermitage was built right after the death of the saint, over the ancient hut where St. Galgano spent his last year of life. The church is based on a circular plan, only broken off by the little apse. The small chapel is posthumous if compared with the rest of the Round. It was built and badly connected to the Round only in 1340, by will of Vanni of the Salimbeni.
The chapel interior is famous for its hemispheric vaulted ceiling in concentric two-tone rings created with brick and travertine and for the sword of San Galgano thrust into a rock.
In 1340 a rectangular construction was added to the original building, set against its northern side. It features cross-vaulting, and is divided into four rooms. This new area was painted with frescoes with a cycle dedicated to the Life of the Virgin, carried out by Ambrogio Lorenzetti and his workshop. On the upper part of the central wall is a Majesty with Angels and Saints, at the foot of the scene is portrayed Eve lying down. In the lower part is the Annunciation.
During restoration work in 1966, the sinopie (or preparatory sketches) of these frescoes were uncovered, allowing for a deeper interpretation of the pictorial cycle. In the case of the Annunciation, there are some differences between the sketch and the actual fresco: in the sinopia the Virgin appears almost upset by the arrival of the Angel and embraces the column, as if to defend herself from the sudden apparition by turning her face. In the finished depiction, Mary’s hands are folded on her breast, to signify a full assent to her exceptional lot.
The whole cycle alludes strongly to the theme of maternity which seems to reappear in the figure of Eve with her prominent belly beneath her lightweight dress. The representation of the Majesty is connected to San Galgano’s vision of the Virgin with twelve apostles; in Ambrogio’s painting Peter, Paul, John the Baptist, and John the Evangelist appear; the other figures which replace the apostles of the vision are a pontiff (maybe Lucius III who canonised Galgano), and four monks, two of which are Cistercians.
Ambrogio’s presence at Montesiepi, recorded in 1334, confirms the late dating of the work which was carried out in the last years of the artist’s activity, before he died. He was almost certainly a victim of the plague in 1348, and, in fact, no records of the painter exist after that year. This cylindrical church was built where the knight Galgano Guidotti, become a Cistercian monk, lived as an hermit till 1181, when he died. Is kept here the sword which, according to the tradition, Galgano drove into the rock to symbolise his renunciation to the worldly life. It was consacred in 1185. It has a small semicircular apse and a quadrilateral room used as pronaos; the covering consists in a hemispheric dome with alternated chromatic fascias. In the neighbour chapel, built at the beginning of the 14th century, there are frescoes by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, nowadays damaged, representing Scenes of the life of Saint Galgano, a Majesty and the Annunciation.
|
|
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Annunciation
 Scenes of the life of Saint Galgano by Ambrogio Lorenzetti in the Oratory of San Galgano
Maesta (detail), Montesiepi Chapel, San Galgano |
In a detail from the Maesta fresco, Eve reclines on the lowest step of the Virgin's throne.
The reclining figure may be based on Lorenzetti's figure of Pax in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena. |
|
|
|
|
|
St Michael, Museo d'Arte Sacra, Asciano |
St Michael, Museo d'Arte Sacra, Asciano
|
Asciano, a town protected by a 14th century perimeter wall, within which we find the Museum of Sacred Art housing Ambrogio Lorenzetti's painting of St Michael slaying the dragon. The panel was the central part of a polyptych executed for the Benedictine monastery church established by Guido Tarlati, bishop of Arezzo, in 1319. The original location was the Monastero di San Cristoforo a Rofeno.
Saint Michael, apart from being the ruler of archangels according to Christian tradition, was also the dragon-slayer and the personal adversary of Satan. |
Nicolai Rubinstein
, Political Ideas in Sienese Art: The Frescoes by Ambrogio Lorenzetti and Taddeo di Bartolo in the Palazzo Pubblico
Carol M. Richardson (Editor), Kim W. Woods (Editor), Michael W. Franklin (Editor), Renaissance Art Reconsidered: An Anthology of Primary Sources
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Ambrogio Lorenzetti.
[1] The "Martyrdom of the Franciscans" by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, S. Francesco. Arts, II, 1929, 307- II
[2] Diana Norman , Siena and the Virgin: art and politics in a late medieval city state, New Haven, 1999, pp 134-135
[3] Web Gallery of Art | Small Maestà, Tempera on wood, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
