Simone Martini
/ Cecilia Jannella
- Firenze : Scala , 1989
- 79 p. : illus. ; 28 cm.
Includes index
The life of Simone Martini Simone Martini and Tuscany: early works Simone and the Commune of Siena: his fame grows Simone and the House of Anjou: Assisi and the Naples Altarpiece St Louis of Toulouse crowning Robert of Anjou Simone and his workshop The polyptych of Santa Caterina The Orvieto years Simone's second sienese period Simone Martini in Avignon
Simone was doubtlessly apprenticed from an early age, as would have been the normal practice. Among his first documented works is the Maestą of 1315 in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena.[1] A copy of the work, executed shortly thereafter by Lippo Memmi in San Gimignano, testifies to the enduring influence Simone's prototypes would have on other artists throughout the 14th century. Perpetuating the Sienese tradition, Simone's style contrasted with the sobriety and monumentality of Florentine art, and is noted for its soft, stylized, decorative features, sinuosity of line, and courtly elegance. Simone's art owes much to French manuscript illumination and ivory carving: examples of such art were brought to Siena in the fourteenth century by means of the Via Francigena, a main pilgrimage and trade route from Northern Europe to Rome.