Medieval Siena was apparently a city famed for its beautiful striped cathedral, its dramatic Palio horse races, its goldsmiths as well as some wonderful artists. It was a wealthy city being a centre for banking and trade. It was also a very cosmopolitan city from this commerce and for being a stop along a pilgrim route known as the Via Francigena. As a result Siena was open to artistic influences from other cultures in particular France which is seen in the exhibition in the form of carved ivories and illuminated manuscripts. Siena's halcyon days came to an end with the spread of the Black Death in 1348. This exhibition aims to capture some of the last fifty years or so of the greatness of the Siena of old seen through the paintings and textiles of the period, most of which have survived in extraordinarily good condition. The Virgin Mary was the patron of Siena and her image features heavily here in shimmering golden devotional altar pieces of various sizes by the artists who made the city famous such as Duccio, Simone Martini and the Lorenzetti brothers. All the gold of the altar pieces is shown off to dazzling perfection in the darkened gallery rooms of the National and there is much to see and take in. The Maestá altar piece (1308-11), forms the centre-piece of this exhibition, in the central octagonal hall. The Maestà – majesty – was placed on the high altar of the Siena cathedral. It was an object of wonder. The main scene, fully 13ft wide, showed the Virgin and Child enthroned, attended by ten saints, 20 angels and ten apostles. Surrounding this picture were nearly 40 other painted panels: above her was a series depicting episodes from her life and death; in the predella – a frieze of small narrative paintings – beneath, were scenes from the Nativity and early life of Christ. They were meant to be read like a comic strip by the faithful. Because the Maestà was free-standing, the reverse was just as stunning, covered with paintings too, nearly 50 panels showing acts of Christ’s teaching and his Passion. Both front and back were topped by an array of angels. The whole structure, five square metres of carving, gilding and painting, was as much a work of architecture as art, resembling the facade of a cathedral topped with finials and gothic pediments. Alongside Giotto’s frescoes in the Upper Basilica at Assisi, the Maestà has traditionally been held as the starting point of early Renaissance art history. In it, the artist Duccio made significant advances that broke from the hieratic nature of Byzantine art: there are narrative scenes, nuanced emotion, an array of settings – landscapes, urban views, interiors – greater three-dimensionality and informality, the integration of figures into believable space, and lots of small incidental details for worshippers rather than exclusively for the clerical viewer. The paintings also related to another of his innovations: the pioneering of portable, multi-panel, devotional works. All these traits would become staples of Renaissance art. Before encountering The Maestá, though, the first room of the exhibition gives us an introduction to Duccio, who was active in Siena, in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Although not much is known about his life, his reputation sees him regarded as one of the greatest Italian painters of the Middle Ages completing important works of art in government and religious buildings around Italy. Duccio worked on wood panel, painting in egg tempera embellished with gold leaf. He was a master of tempera and his style was similar to Byzantine art in certain aspects, with its gold backgrounds and religious scenes. However, it was also different and more experimental. Duccio broke down the sharp lines of Byzantine art, softening his figures faces, hands, and feet by using modelling to reveal the structure of said figures beneath their clothing making them appear more three-dimensional. Duccio was also noted for his complex organization of space. He was one of the first painters to put figures in architectural settings exploring a sense of depth and space. Duccio was also notable for attempting to portray emotion and tenderness in his figures towards each other which is a trait not seen in contemporary painters at this time. This is evidenced in the numerous paintings of Christ and the Virgin in the exhibition where Mary demonstrates a naturalistic mothers love for her child. Duccio is also admired as a colourist and visitors will be rewarded as they see the jewel-like colours which glow jewel-like against the gold leaf in the dark of this exhibition. Other important artists of the period such as Simone Martini and Ambrogio Lorenzetti are also given their dues here with some equally gorgeous paintings, the former with four panels from the Orsini altarpiece. This is an unashamedly Christian-focused exhibition, and one which contains a great sense of spirituality and almost the sense of a pilgrimage or worship. It certainly gave me a sense of inner peace, contemplation and much spiritual food for thought.
