Architectural View

In the second half of the fifteenth century, with so many of Siena’s painters active as sculptors or architects, a new sense of the third dimension entered her art. Such ambitious exploration is discernible in this very large, illusionistic panel ascribed to many artists, recently to Francesco di Giorgio Martini, who was active as a painter, sculptor, and architect. His trompe-l’oeil was doubtless designed for some site-specific function (possibly for the headboard of a bed), or to extend a preexisting space.