Simone Martini – one of the most prominent masters of the Siena school of the XIV century. The art of Siena was influenced by the northern Gothic. Elegant, decorative, refined grace, features that distinguish the painting of Siena – are characteristic of Simone Martini. However, he was influenced by the work of one of the first masters of the Italian Renaissance, Florentine painter Giotto.
Simone Martini’s deeply inspired art is consonant with the lyrical poetry of Francesco Petrarch, with whom the artist had a great friendship. For Petrarch Martini painted a portrait of Laura, dearly beloved by the poet and sung by him in verse. The painting Madonna “refers to the late creative period of Simone Martini, his time in the south of France, in Avignon, in 1339-1342. It represents the diptych casement, which depicted the scene of the Annunciation.
The picture captivates the beautiful combination of a golden background with red and blue tones of clothes, the singing smoothness of lines, the graceful movement of Maria’s delicate hands. In the elongated proportions, the curved silhouette of the figure is felt the influence of the Gothic. For a long time it was believed that the second door with the image of the Archangel Gabriel, who brought Mary the news of the upcoming birth of Christ, was lost.
Now there is an assumption that this shutter is the Archangel stored in the National Gallery of Washington, “whose dimensions and ornamentation of the frame coincide with the Hermitage picture. Madonna” was in the collection of Count G. S. Stroganov in Rome. In 1911, according to the owner’s will, it was transferred to the Hermitage.
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