Martini, Simone

born с 1284, Siena, Republic of Siena

died 1344, Avignon, Provence

Italian painter.

An exponent of Gothic art, he did much to spread the influence of Sienese painting. Duccio di Buoninsegna influenced his use of harmonious, pure colour, but his graceful, decorative lines were inspired by French Gothic art, as seen in his Maestà fresco (1315), which depicts the Madonna as a Gothic queen holding court beneath a Gothic canopy. His equestrian portrait of Guidoriccio da Fogliano (1328) was an important precedent for Renaissance equestrian portraits.

* * *

▪ Italian painter

born c. 1284, , Siena, Republic of Siena

died 1344, Avignon, Provence

 important exponent of Gothic (Gothic art) painting who did more than any other artist to spread the influence of Sienese painting.

      Martini was very possibly a pupil of Duccio di Buoninsegna (Duccio), from whom he probably inherited his love of harmonious, pure colours and most of his early figure types. To these he added a gracefulness of line and delicacy of interpretation that were inspired by French Gothic works that the young artist studied in Italy. He carried to perfection the decorative line of the Gothic style and subordinated volume to the rhythm of this line.

      Simone's earliest documented painting is the large fresco of the “Maestà” in the Sala del Mappamondo of the Palazzo Pubblico, Siena. The fresco depicts the enthroned Madonna and Child with angels and saints. This painting, which is signed and dated 1315 but was retouched by Simone himself in 1321, is a free version of Duccio's “Maestà” of 1308–11. But the hierarchic structure of Duccio's work has been replaced by a growing interest in illusionary perspective, and the abstract character and lack of setting of the earlier work has given way to concrete concepts: Simone's Virgin, crowned and splendidly attired, is a Gothic queen who holds court beneath a Gothic canopy.

      About 1317 the artist painted, in Naples, the highly spiritual altarpiece “St. Louis of Toulouse Crowning His Brother, King Robert of Anjou.” Two years later he composed for the Church of Santa Caterina, Pisa, a colouristically magnificent Madonna polyptych. Perhaps in the middle of the 1320s he began the 10 scenes, full of chivalrous ideals, from the life of St. Martin of Tours (Martin of Tours, Saint) in this saint's chapel in the lower Church of San Francesco, Assisi. His equestrian portrait (1328) representing Guidoriccio da Fogliano, general of the Sienese republic, was perhaps the first Sienese work of art that did not serve a religious purpose. It was also an important precedent for the numerous equestrian portraits of the Renaissance. On the other hand, the “Annunciation” triptych, painted for the Siena Cathedral, but now in the Uffizi, Florence, is deliberately unreal. Simone signed this work in 1333 with his brother-in-law, the Sienese painter Lippo Memmi, an associate for many years. The exquisite rhythm of the lines and dematerialized forms of Gabriel and Mary in the central portion of the “Annunciation” led a number of artists to imitation, but none of them achieved such vibrant contours and such spirited forms as did Simone in this great masterpiece.

      In 1340 the painter settled at the papal court in Avignon, where he made the acquaintance of Petrarch. He executed for the poet a portrait (now lost) of his beloved Laura, a fact known from two of Petrarch's sonnets in which Simone is eulogized.

      Simone was the most important Sienese painter after Duccio. His influence in Siena was great in the 14th century and considerable in the 15th. His art was imitated by local painters in Naples, Pisa, Orvieto, Assisi, and Avignon.

* * *