BARTOLO DI FREDI

Bartolo di Fredi used elements of Simone Martini’s famous Annunciation painted 50 years earlier.

This small panel was one of a polyptych from the life of the Virgin. It was a commission granted to Bartolo di Fredi by the Company of Saint Peter on May 9, 1585, for the Chapel of the Annunciation in the Church of S. Francesco in Montalcino, where the artist had already painted other works. The polyptych has since been broken up, and parts of it can be seen in various museums.

This panel depicts the Nativity and the Adoration of the Shepherds as well as an occasion that took place before these events, when an angel announced the divine birth to the shepherds.

The Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph are in a cave with the swaddled infant lying in a manger. Behind the Madonna are an ox and an ass, and the shepherds kneel in the front. On the right side, on a much smaller scale, is the angel’s annunciation to the shepherds. One shepherd covers his face with one hand, thus showing his surprise and fear, whereas the other hand is holding a bagpipe, an obvious reference to pagan bucolic scenes. The angel bringing the news is holding an olive branch, the symbol of peace and celebration. In the upper portion of the painting, angels have emerged halfway out of a cloud and form a semicircle; they are in the act of singing.

As a sign of devotion, the Virgin Mary is represented in a larger scale than the other figures; above the infant are a dove and a star, which serve to illuminate him almost as if they formed the symbolical representation of the Trinity.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 12 minutes):

Gregorian chants

The Collegiata Santa Maria Assunta, directly adjacent to the Palazzo Comunale, is San Gimignano’s main church. The fresco decoration of the nave of the Romanesque-Gothic church began in the 1340s and continued through three phases in the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. The decoration encompassed New Testament scenes in the north aisle by Lippo Memmi (c. 1340), Old Testament scenes in the south aisle by Bartolo di Fredi (1367), and a depiction of the Last Judgment on the east wall and in the first bay of the nave. by Taddeo di Bartolo (c. 1413).

The picture shows four scenes from the Old Testament, located in the fourth bay of the south aisle. The scenes are: The Departure of Abraham and Lot (above left), Abraham and Lot Separate (above right), God and Satan Agree on the Temptation of Job (below left), Sabeans and Chaldeans Kill Job’s Servants.

You can find a description of the frescoes in the north aisle in the section of Lippo Memmi.

This panel is a fragment of a larger painting.

This panel was commissioned for the church of Sant’Agostino, San Gimignano. It is one of ten saints that would have formed the lateral pilasters of a vast and elaborate altarpiece, dismantled in the 19th century.

This altarpiece was commissioned for the cathedral of Siena.

Bartolo di Fredi was one of the most popular masters in Siena in the second half of the fourteenth century. He maintained a large workshop. He was influenced by both Simone Martini and Pietro Lorenzetti, and following late Gothic inspirations he developed his style on this basis.

The Adoration of the Magi is characterized by a lively dynamism like in Lorenzetti’s paintings. The only tranquil detail is Mary sitting with the Child on the right side. The three kings arrive with a big accompaniment from the left. The big striped hats in the hands of the members of the accompaniment is well known from the St Martin fresco cycle of Simone Martini in Assisi. The background scene is a reference to the long journey of the kings between cities and mountains. The walled city is Siena with the black and white striped Cathedral and the bell-tower. No organic connection can be observed between the foreground and background.

This small panel was one of a polyptych from the life of the Virgin. It was a commission granted to Bartolo di Fredi by the Company of Saint Peter on May 9, 1585, for the Chapel of the Annunciation in the Church of S. Francesco in Montalcino, where the artist had already painted other works. The polyptych has since been broken up, and parts of it can be seen in various museums.

This small panel portrays Saint Joachim in a mountainous setting. The angel Gabriel has come to bring him the news that his wife, Saint Anne, will bear a child. On the right side there are two shepherds near their flock, one of whom holds a bagpipe.

The polyptych of the Coronation of the Virgin, signed and dated 1388 by Bartolo di Fredi, was executed for a chapel in the church of San Francesco in the town of Montalcino to the south of Siena. The painter appears to have had a number of other connections with Montalcino, both as an agent for the Sienese government (in 1375 and 1376) and as a painter - securing at least four major commissions in the 1380s and 1390s.

This altarpiece, which approaches the scale and complexity of the front face of Duccio’s Maesta and of Pietro Lorenzetti’s Carmelite altarpiece, offers a compelling example of the ambition of Sienese altarpiece design in the 1380s. The central panel displays an elegant representation of the Virgin at the moment of her coronation as queen of heaven. Above this arresting image is a smaller painting of the Virgin of the Assumption, a subject with strong political overtones for the Sienese and their subjects. The remaining panels are devoted to scenes from the early life of the Virgin and the events surrounding her death and assumption. The narrative follows a sequence that begins on the left-hand side of the predella, progresses from left to right across the predella and then proceeds from the lower left to lower right of the side panels, ending with the upper left and upper right side panels.

The side panels of the polyptych are devoted to scenes from the early life of the Virgin and the events surrounding her death and assumption.

This panel formed the centre part of a vast and elaborate altarpiece, commissioned for the church of Sant’Agostino, San Gimignano. It was inspired by Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s Presentation in the Temple, painted in 1342.

The altarpiece was dismantled in the 19th century.