SIMONE MARTINI

The altarpiece was painted for the Angevin, Robert the Wise, King of Sicily. It represents St Louis of Toulouse seated with his brother, Robert the Wise, kneeling before him. The altar is important for its format. It consists of a large upper panel containing the image of the saint; and a predella beneath containing five small scenes showing episodes taken from his life. This is the first altarpiece to survive intact with an historiated predella. (It was certainly not the first to exist.) Simone’s altar marks the beginning of a process whereby this format gradually became the normal one.

The St Louis altar, being a family monument, is also a good example of court art. The comparatively new demands for facial characterization, up to now associated mainly with sculpture, are here extended to painting in the kneeling figure of Robert the Wise. There is a considerable emphasis on costume, Robert kneeling in what are presumably his coronation robes. Both these and St Louis’s cope are liberally covered with family heraldry. This extends to the frame, for the border of the whole panel is carved with “fleur-de-lis”. Finally, the whole work was given an added sparkle and glitter by the addition of goldsmith’s work to parts of St Louis figure; and also by the addition of stones (probably semi-precious) to such objects as the crowns. These are now lost but such additions were regularly made to royal tomb effigies in the north.

In the predella, set in an arcade, there are five small pictures with scenes from the saint’s life. They show: 1. his acceptance of the episcopal office, on condition that he would at the same time be permitted to enter the Franciscan order; 2. his entry into the Franciscan order and consecration as bishop; 3. washing the hands of the poor and inviting them to his table; 4. Louis on his bier; 5. the miracle of the boy raised from the dead.

The picture shows the extreme right panel of the predella representing the scene of resurrecting a boy. Here we find the scene of a miracle involving a small child: a man prays with a statuette of St Louis in his hands asking for his intervention and his child, who had died shortly before, miraculously comes back to life. With its lively narrative quality and especially because of the iconography involving the death of a child, this scene is very similar to the episodes depicted in the altarpiece of the Blessed Agostino Novello.

The altarpiece represents St Louis of Toulouse seated with his brother, Robert the Wise, kneeling before him.

Louis of Anjou was born in 1274, the second son of Charles II of Anjou, king of Naples, and was the designated heir to the throne. However, he felt called to a spiritual life, and renounced his claim to the throne in 1296. Now his younger brother Robert became heir apparent, Louis was appointed bishop of Toulouse by Pope Boniface VIII, but at the same time asked for permission to enter the Franciscan order. However, as early as 1297 he died on his way to Rome. The attempts to have him canonized were beset with complications, and the process lasted through three pontificates, although numerous miracles had already been ascribed to him. It was not until 7 April 1317 that he was eventually canonized by Pope John XXII, who was close to Robert of Anjou.

Robert, who had become king of Naples in 1309, donated the altar retable probably to the church of Santa Chiara in Naples. The large retable is framed with the heraldic lilies of Anjou.

In accordance with his importance, St Louis of Toulouse is depicted seated in majesty with the appurtenances of a bishop (mitre, crosier, cope and glove), while wearing the Franciscan habit, on a backless chair, crowning his younger brother Robert. Louis himself is being crowned by two hovering angels, so that we are present at a dual occurrence: the saint is being crowned by divine decree, the king by the hand of the saint. In this way it is made clear that the divine will is transmitted to Robert too. It is a symbolic act of installation in office which seeks God-given legitimacy through the now canonized brother.

The predella panel with five scenes illustrates episodes from the Saint’s life. The predella scenes are much more lively and realistic than the main panel; their animated narrative quality is more like the St Martin cycle.

From left to right, in the first panel we find Louis accepting the nomination to Bishop of Toulouse on condition that he be allowed to enter the Franciscan Order. This event took place in secret in Rome in December 1296, in the presence of Boniface VIII; Louis’s father, Charles II, for political reasons wanted his son to become Bishop of Toulouse, for he needed to have direct control over an area that was particularly important for the King of France, Philip the Fair. And who could be a more trustworthy Bishop than his own son? But Louis had already given up his throne in order to follow the example of St Francis, and he had no intention now of becoming a pawn in a political manoeuvre, for this went against his spiritual aspirations; so, in return for accepting this religious office (which was not religious at all… ), he requested to be allowed to enter the Franciscan Order.

In the following panel Louis publicly takes his vows and is consecrated Bishop: this is the official conclusion, on 5 February 1297, of the secret agreement made between Pope Boniface and the Saint.

The third scene is based on the proceedings for the canonization of Louis in 1308: with great modesty, the Bishop Saint served and fed the hungry. These scenes relate perfectly to the subject-matter of the altarpiece, the coronation of King Robert, for they exalt the humility of Louis: he is humble because he gave up his throne, he is humble in the presence of Boniface VIII, he is humble in his daily life. But the truth was different. Even more important than his humility, Louis was poor: poor like St Francis, poor like the unpopular Spirituals, and above all poor unlike a King’s son, especially one who was a Bishop and had just been canonized. The patron who commissioned the painting (Robert of Anjou, Mary of Hungary, or any other member of the royal family) clearly requested Simone to conceal, or at least not to emphasize, this aspect of the Saint’s virtue; he was to celebrate another aspect of it, equally valid from a spiritual point of view, and totally innocuous politically: Louis is a follower of Christ in his humility, not in his poverty.

After the scene of Louis’s Funeral, depicted as a magnificent ceremony worthy of a high prelate (actually, it appears that it was an austere and simple service), in the last panel we find the scene of a miracle involving a small child: a man prays with a statuette of St Louis in his hands asking for his intervention and his child, who had died shortly before, miraculously comes back to life. With its lively narrative quality and especially because of the iconography involving the death of a child, this scene is very similar to the episodes depicted in the altarpiece of the Blessed Agostino Novello.

The spatial construction of the altarpiece, both in the main panel and in the predella scenes, shows a very conscious elaboration of Giotto’s methods, which Simone had already used in the Assisi frescoes. The drapery of the cope, the lion’s feet on the faldstool half-hidden by the dais, the geometric patterns on the carpet, as well as the arcades, loggias and the shadowy areas in the episodes below, are the product of very subtle perspective observations which reveal to what extent Simone had by this stage developed a mature approach to spatial construction and the reproduction of volumes.

The signed and dated painting was completed for the altar of St Ansanus in the transept of Siena cathedral. In the painting, the Archangel Gabriel appears to the Virgin Mary to tell her of the forthcoming birth of Jesus and greets her with the words shown on the raised inscription on the gold background: “AVE GRATIA PLENA DOMINUS TECUM”. The angel’s appearance is sudden, as suggested by the fluttering cloak and spread wings. Mary is distressed, drawing back and wrapping herself in her cloak. The surrounding environment of the scene is not defined, but the few elements which are depicted - the marble floor, the elaborately engraved throne, the precious fabrics, the book that Mary was reading before the celestial apparition - can be traced back to the lifestyle of the wealthiest classes in the fourteenth century.

Above, in the centre of the scene, the Holy Spirit is depicted in the form of a dove surrounded by angels, in line with the vase of lilies, a symbol of the Son of God and the purity of the Virgin Mary. The scrolls held by the prophets depicted in the tondos set into the frame allude to the mystery of the incarnation: from the left, Jeremiah, Ezechiel, Isiah and Daniel.

The depictions on either side of the Annunciation show the martyr Ansanus, one of the patron saints of Siena and bearing the banner with the city’s colours, and a holy martyr, possibly Maxima, the mother of Ansanus, or Margaret; the inscription at her feet, which identifies her as Judith, is incorrect.

However, the inscription indicating the two Sienese painters Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi as the altarpiece’s creators is original, although art critics tend to attribute most of the conception and execution of this highly detailed painting to Simone, representing as it does one of the greatest masterpieces of fourteenth century painting in Europe. A friend of the poet Francesco Petrarch and commissioned by illustrious clients such as the House of Anjou and the Avignon Papacy, Simone shared a workshop with Lippo Memmi and the two became brothers-in-law when Simone married Memmi’s sister.

On the gold background the figures of Angel Gabriel and the Virgin enhances Gothic line, without narrative details: just the central pot with lilies, symbolizing Mary’s purity, and the olive branch. The golden relief inscription starting from the Angel’s mouth contains beginning words of the Annunciation.

In this detail, Mary draws back timidly from the apparition of the angel Gabriel.

After having spent several years in Assisi, Pisa and Orvieto, only occasionally returning to Siena for very brief periods during which he worked in the Palazzo Pubblico, Simone actually returned to Siena on a stable basis. It was during this second Sienese period that Simone painted some of his most famous paintings, such as the Blessed Agostino Novello Altarpiece, the celebrated fresco of Guidoriccio da Fogliano and the Annunciation now in the Uffizi.

The story of the Blessed Agostino Novello is an example of that form of popular religious spirit that grew up in the towns of Tuscany in the late 13th century and the early 14th. The Church’s official saints were considered too remote by the people and spiritually so different from the reality of the times that they could not entirely satisfy the religious fervour that developed in those years. The people felt that they needed more tangible examples of holiness, more closely connected to daily reality, rather like St Francis of Assisi had been. As a result, some of the better known citizens, whose charitable and religious deeds were known to all (and in may cases miracles were attributed to them), were canonized as saints or blessed.

Agostino Novello was one of these figures. After a brilliant career both as a layman and as a cleric (he studied law at the University of Bologna and became personal councillor to King Manfred, the son of Ludwig II; when he joined the Augustinian Order he became Prior General), Agostino Novello then renounced community life and retired to the hermitage of San Leonardo al Lago, near Siena.

After his death in 1309, the worship of this saintly man spread so fast that the monks of his Order tried to have him nominated patron saint of the city: through the veneration of a member of their Order, the Augustinians were sure to gain prestige and power. But Agostino was not made patron saint of Siena, despite the fact that he must indeed have been the object of great veneration to judge by the impressive funerary monument that was built for him.

Now in the Pinacoteca in Siena, the painting hung originally in the church of Sant’Agostino, probably above the wooden sarcophagus in which the Blessed Agostino was buried; together with the altar consecrated to him, these two elements formed a burial monument. The dating of this altarpiece can only be approximated. We can only suppose that it was already finished and in place on the occasion of the celebrations in honour of the Blessed Agostino held in 1324 and for which the Commune of Siena allotted a huge sum of money.

The iconography, at least for modern observers like us, is clear but not that simple to understand. The central area, framed by a multifoiled ogival arch, encloses the figure of Agostino, who is given a saint’s halo even though he had not been canonized. The wooded landscape, the old hermits in the medallions and the scene of the conversation with the angel (an episode that does not appear in any of the biographies) are all references to the hermit’s life he led at San Leonardo al Lago. On the other hand, the face of Agostino, portrayed still as a young man, the red book he carries (perhaps the Constitutiones of the Order, which he had drawn up himself), as well as the fact that the miracles are all taking place in a very realistically described Siena, all suggest Agostino’s political commitments and the pastoral duties he performed in the city.

The miraculous powers of the Blessed Agostino are fully displayed in the scenes depicted at the sides of the central area; they are framed by trefoiled round arches and illustrate four miracles. The idea of Agostino’s holiness, stressed by the sudden appearances of winged angels, was intended to capture the mediaeval public’s religious sensitivity: the victims of the terrible accidents are for the most part children.

The scenes are organized according to the composition of ex-votos, each one being divided into two sections: the accident and the miracle, followed by a thanksgiving prayer. The architectural settings of the scenes depict an overall view of Siena (in the Child Attacked by a Wolf), a view of the narrow streets of the city (in the Child Falling from a Balcony) and even an interior scene (in the Child Falling out of his Cradle, also known as the Paganelli Miracle); and in fact one could say that the city of Siena is indeed the co-protagonist of this painting. The buildings of the city centre are counterbalanced by the rural landscape in the scene of the Knight Falling down a Ravine, probably a depiction of the countryside immediately outside Siena, with the towers of faraway castles standing out amidst the bare hills.

Upper left scene of the altarpiece: Child Attacked by a Wolf.

Lower left scene of the altarpiece: Child Falling from a Balcony.

Upper right scene of the altarpiece: Knight Falling Down a Ravine.

Lower right scene of the altarpiece: Child Falling out of his Cradle.

The panel formed part of an unknown polyptych.

Although recently some scholars have expressed their disagreement, in the past the Polyptych in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, was always considered contemporary to the Orvieto Polyptych, or at the most dating from just a short while later. Originally in the church of Santa Maria dei Servi in Orvieto, the altarpiece consists of five panels: in the middle, the Madonna and Child; on either side, from left to right, Saints Paul, Lucy, Catherine of Alexandria and John the Baptist, all within a trefoiled ogival frame. In the cusps, the musician angels and the symbols of the Passion (the column and the whip of the Flagellation, the cross, the crown of thorns, the spear and the sponge) as well as the figure of Christ showing his wounds, suggest the iconography of the Last Judgment.

Stylistically this polyptych is closer to the Pisa Polyptych than it is to the one painted for the Dominicans in Orvieto, especially in details such as the slender figures, the long and graceful hands, more fluent and lighter volumes. In recent years it has become almost unanimously recognized as being by Simone, except for the St Paul, about whom there is still a fair amount of doubt.

The detail shows the central panel of the polyptych: the Madonna and Child.

The frescoes of the Death and Funeral on the upper level are the last scenes of the cycle. Animated by light, colour and spatial depth, both these scenes have the same composition, with a crowd of acolytes and followers witnessing the events. The same characters, with the same features but depicted in different poses and with different gestures appear in both scenes: the priest celebrating the ritual of the deceased in the scene of Martin’s Death appears in the fresco of the Funeral between the two figures with haloes; the tonsured acolyte dressed in green and red who in the Death is gazing meditatively upwards, in the Funeral is shown holding the celebrant’s dalmatic.

Another interesting element is the way the architectural style of the scenes follows the mood of the events: while the building in the scene of the Death of St Martin is a severe geometrical structure with bare walls, the Funeral takes place in a Gothic chapel with graceful and delicate decorations.

This small panel shows Joseph and Mary remonstrating with Christ for lingering in the Temple and represents an unusual iconographic subject, painted at the end of Simone’s life. In some respects, it resembles the Annunciation in the Uffizi, for the folds and edges of drapery are used in a similar way in both. The Liverpool panel, however, represents an involved human situation, and what is obviously a difficult family problem apparently as yet unresolved. The subject is handled by the artist with consummate skill and restraint, and the balance between narrative and decoration is virtually perfect.

This small panel is Simone’s latest authentic work. It is signed on the lower part of the frame as: SYMON DE SENIS ME PINXIT SUB A. D. MCCCXLII.

Next to the eight saints on the underside of the arch, on the entrance wall inside the chapel we find the scene of the Consecration of the Chapel. A mood of deep humility pervades the whole scene and provides the psychological link between the two characters: Cardinal Gentile is shown in humble adoration at the feet of St Martin who is gently helping him to get up. The very ecclesiastical setting, depicted in a perspective seen from below consists of a splendid ciborium, a Gothic construction with a trefoiled ogival arch and corner pinnacles, and a polychrome marble balustrade in the background.

A mood of deep humility pervades the whole scene and provides the psychological link between the two characters: Cardinal Gentile is shown in humble adoration at the feet of St Martin who is gently helping him to get up.

The Crucifix from the church of the Misericordia in San Casciano Val di Pesa, first discovered and attributed to Simone in the early years of the 20th century, is undoubtedly contemporary to the paintings described above. Although there is no documentation at all regarding it, some scholars have suggested that it is the Crucifix that Simone painted in 1321 for the Chapel of the Nine in Siena. This theory is not very convincing, however, because if we examine our sources carefully it becomes clear that what Simone painted in that chapel was a fresco and not a panel - a fresco which was then destroyed by a fire. The closest analogies that this Crucifix presents are with the Pisa and Boston polyptychs.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 9 minutes):

13th-century Organum

The altarpiece known as Passion Polyptych (or Orsini Polyptych), with panels now in a number of European museums (Angel of the Annunciation and Virgin of Annunciation, as well as Crucifixion and Deposition in Antwerp, the Road to Calvary in Paris and the Entombment in Berlin) is signed “Pinxit Symon” on the two panels of the Crucifixion and the Deposition. It presents several problems, both in terms of stylistic analysis and dating.

Some scholars, stressing the fact that it is so different stylistically from all the other works of Simone’s Avignon period (nervous lines and expressions), think that it may have been painted earlier and then transported to France; others believe that it may be a late work, commissioned by Napoleone Orsini, who died in the Curia in Avignon in 1342. Orsini’s coat-of-arms appears in the background of the Road to Calvary. The polyptych was probably transferred to the charterhouse of Champmol, near Dijon, in the late 14th century.

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Gregorian chants

It is remarkable how much the knight under the little aedicula in the fresco of Martin’s Death looks like the portrait of Robert of Anjou in Simone’s Naples Altarpiece.

The frescoes of the Death and Funeral on the upper level are the last scenes of the cycle. Animated by light, colour and spatial depth, both these scenes have the same composition, with a crowd of acolytes and followers witnessing the events. The same characters, with the same features but depicted in different poses and with different gestures appear in both scenes: the priest celebrating the ritual of the deceased in the scene of Martin’s Death appears in the fresco of the Funeral between the two figures with haloes; the tonsured acolyte dressed in green and red who in the Death is gazing meditatively upwards, in the Funeral is shown holding the celebrant’s dalmatic.

Another interesting element is the way the architectural style of the scenes follows the mood of the events: while the building in the scene of the Death of St Martin is a severe geometrical structure with bare walls, the Funeral takes place in a Gothic chapel with graceful and delicate decorations.

The altarpiece known as Passion Polyptych (or Orsini Polyptych), with panels now in a number of European museums (Angel of the Annunciation and Virgin of Annunciation, as well as Crucifixion and Deposition in Antwerp, the Road to Calvary in Paris and the Entombment in Berlin) is signed “Pinxit Symon” on the two panels of the Crucifixion and the Deposition. It presents several problems, both in terms of stylistic analysis and dating.

Some scholars, stressing the fact that it is so different stylistically from all the other works of Simone’s Avignon period (nervous lines and expressions), think that it may have been painted earlier and then transported to France; others believe that it may be a late work, commissioned by Napoleone Orsini, who died in the Curia in Avignon in 1342. Orsini’s coat-of-arms appears in the background of the Road to Calvary. The polyptych was probably transferred to the charterhouse of Champmol, near Dijon, in the late 14th century.

The first fresco depicts the famous episode of the Division of the Cloak, the story for which Martin is best known: having come across a beggar dressed in rags on a cold winter morning, Martin gave him half of his cloak. To the left, the city of Amiens, where the incident occurred, with its crenellated fortifications and defence towers. To the right, in the upper section, a head: to try and justify this strange presence we must examine the synopia of the fresco in the Museum of the Basilica. Originally Simone had planned the composition differently: the beggar was shown with his arms outstretched towards the cloak and the city gate was on the opposite side. This helps us understand the position of this solitary profile, very close and parallel to the side frame. But then Simone changed his mind, covered the wall with another layer of intonaco, drew a new synopia and with a brushstroke of blue paint cancelled that first face which has now resurfaced.

Martin is sleeping under a blanket of typically Sienese fabric and Simone’s realism is evident from one detail in particular: the border of the white sheet and the pillow are decorated with an embroidery called “drawn-thread” work, very fashionable at the time.

Martin’s generous gesture of the division of the cloak is followed by a dream, in which Christ reveals to him that he was really the beggar. Wrapped in the cloak, and pointing at Martin, Jesus addresses the host of angels accompanying him: some are shown praying, others listen to him with their arms crossed, while the mass of gold haloes helps give a sense of depth to the architectural setting. Meanwhile, Martin is sleeping under a blanket of typically Sienese fabric and Simone’s realism is evident from one detail in particular: the border of the white sheet and the pillow are decorated with an embroidery called “drawn-thread” work, very fashionable at the time. The rigidity of the outstretched’body is intended to convey an intense spiritual participation in the message of Christ, and the way Martin’s hand rests on his chest reveals excitement, as though he really were listening to the voice of the Lord.

The altarpiece known as Passion Polyptych (or Orsini Polyptych), with panels now in a number of European museums (Angel of the Annunciation and Virgin of Annunciation, as well as Crucifixion and Deposition in Antwerp, the Road to Calvary in Paris and the Entombment in Berlin) is signed “Pinxit Symon” on the two panels of the Crucifixion and the Deposition. It presents several problems, both in terms of stylistic analysis and dating.

Some scholars, stressing the fact that it is so different stylistically from all the other works of Simone’s Avignon period (nervous lines and expressions), think that it may have been painted earlier and then transported to France; others believe that it may be a late work, commissioned by Napoleone Orsini, who died in the Curia in Avignon in 1342. Orsini’s coat-of-arms appears in the background of the Road to Calvary. The polyptych was probably transferred to the charterhouse of Champmol, near Dijon, in the late 14th century.

The fresco of Guidoriccio da Fogliano, depicting the conquest of the castles of Montemassi and Sassoforte in 1328, formed part of a fresco cycle “Castelli” which occupied the upper part of the wall opposite to the Maestà in the Sala del Mappamondo. The cycle, commemorating the castles conquered by the Sienese, was initiated in 1314 by the representation of the Castle of Giuncarico, it was continued by the Guidoriccio and in 1331 by the Castles of Arcidosso and Piano. The latter were destroyed in 1361 when Lippo Vanni painted the Battles of Valdichiana and Poggio Imperiale.

In the 1970s, the famous fresco, which had always been, considered the greatest example of Martini’s artistic excellence, was re-attributed to a much later artist. The controversy that followed this re-attribution, further stimulated by the discovery of a fresco below the Guidoriccio (a very beautiful one, and certainly much older as we can see from the overlapping of the intonaco), turned into an animated diatribe that has not yet been placated.

The fresco of Guidoriccio da Fogliano, depicting the conquest of the castles of Montemassi and Sassoforte in 1328, formed part of a fresco cycle “Castelli” which occupied the upper part of the wall opposite to the Maestà in the Sala del Mappamondo. The cycle, commemorating the castles conquered by the Sienese, was initiated in 1314 by the representation of the Castle of Giuncarico, it was continued by the Guidoriccio and in 1331 by the Castles of Arcidosso and Piano. The latter were destroyed in 1361 when Lippo Vanni painted the Battles of Valdichiana and Poggio Imperiale.

In the 1970s, the famous fresco, which had always been, considered the greatest example of Martini’s artistic excellence, was re-attributed to a much later artist. The controversy that followed this re-attribution, further stimulated by the discovery of a fresco below the Guidoriccio (a very beautiful one, and certainly much older as we can see from the overlapping of the intonaco), turned into an animated diatribe that has not yet been placated.

The picture shows the detail of the knight in the middle of the fresco.

The detail shows the view of the village on the left side of the fresco.

The detail shows the view of the castle.

The picture shows the detail of the camp on the right side of the fresco.

The end wall of the Sala del Mappamondo, opposite to the wall containing Simone’s Maestà, is entirely covered by this fresco depicting the famous commander Guidoriccio with defeated fortresses in the background.

This painting had always been considered the greatest example of Simone’s artistic excellence. However, after discovering a fresco below the equestrian figure (a very beautiful one and certainly much older), the Guidoriccio painting was re-attributed by some experts to a much later artist. The controversy that followed this re-attribution has not yet been settled.

The figures in the niches on both sides are the patron saints of Siena, painted by Sodoma, an excellent Sienese master of the sixteenth century.

Illusionistic Gothic niches in the entrance arch of the chapel contains paintings of saints, while in the jambs of the windows of the south wall half-length figures of saints are painted. The picture shows one of the eighteen half-figures.

Illusionistic Gothic niches in the entrance arch of the chapel contains paintings of saints, while in the jambs of the windows of the south wall half-length figures of saints are painted. The picture shows one of the eighteen half-figures.

The painting was the central panel of a polyptich. The side panels are the three panels in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and a St Catherine in an Italian private collection.

Simone Martini imbues the Virgin and Child with a poignant tenderness, as the figures are ensconced within the serpentine curve of the Virgin’s mantle, and each gently grasps the other’s garment. The curled fingers of the Christ Child’s right hand and the underside of His right foot, which pushes playfully against His mother’s wrist, are rendered with remarkably convincing foreshortening for this period, attesting to the artist’s achievements in capturing naturalistic effects.

The present painting formed part of a five-panel polyptych that included, from left to right, St Ansanus (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), St Peter (Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid), the present Madonna and Child, Saint Andrew (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) and St Luke (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles).

Unusually for an altarpiece, the panels are all rectangular - not gabled - and they are all of the same size (in traditional Italian altarpieces the centre panel is invariable wider than the lateral ones by approximately one third). Curiously, there is no sign that the panels were hinged together, and this may be important for understanding the function of the altarpiece, as unhinged panels could be re-combined according to need.

The panels are attributed to Simone Martini, and they probably formed an altarpiece commissioned from Simone in 1326 for the Palazzo Pubblico.

The two Madonnas in the Siena Pinacoteca, one from Castiglione d’Orcia and the other from Lucignano d’Arbia, are clearly related and must date from more or less the same period. But we have no dates, no signatures and no documents containing any information at all regarding the dating of these works: stylistic analysis is the only element that critics have been able to use. This justifies the widely varying opinions that have been expressed on the subject: some scholars believe that they are totally autograph, while others think that Simone is responsible only for the drawings or for certain sections of the painting, while others still consider them entirely the work of the workshop assistants.

Nonetheless, there are many analogies between the various paintings from this period, such as for example, the features of the Madonna in the San Domenico Polyptych, with her gentle and slightly dreaming eyes, repeated almost exactly in the Madonna in the Orvieto Polyptych; or the lively pose of the Child in the panel from Castiglione d’Orcia which is exactly the same as that of the Child in the Boston painting.

A great deal has been written about the iconography of the Madonna from Lucignano d’Arbia, very unusual in Sienese painting. Mary is shown looking to the right, instead of to the left, and she holds a Child who is not yet a “puer” (as was the case in all the earlier paintings) but still an “infans” in swaddling clothes. The reason that led Simone to choose this iconography has yet to be explained, and it may have been a specific request from the client; but scholars do agree on the attribution of the panel to Simone.

The Madonna and Child, no. 583 in the Siena Pinacoteca, after a variety of attributions is now accepted as the earliest known painting by Simone. It was the central panel of a polypytch (on either side there are holes to fasten the side panels to it) and the attribution is based on stylistic considerations: on the one hand, close ties to Duccio’s painting; on the other, typical features of Simone’s art.

The Madonna is looking at the spectator: her erect position, the cloak enveloping her body, her sweet but sad eyes, are all elements typical of Duccio’s art. But alongside these we find some totally new features: the sculptural quality of the veil around the Virgin’s face and the play of light and shadow; the restless movements of the Child, who turns his head towards the Saint to his left (the figure originally depicted on the side panel) and holds onto his mother’s hand; his round body, his mouth, his curly hair and the perfect shape of his ear are all given exact volumes and concrete forms.

The fresco representing Madonna and Child between St Stephen and St Ladislaus (both were Hungarian kings) is on the east wall of the north arm of the western transept. It was painted around the same time as the frescoes in the St Martin Chapel.

The Madonna and Child with Angels and the Saviour in the Orvieto Cathedral Museum is the central piece of a polyptych that also included the panel showing a martyred saint, now in the Ottawa National Gallery, and perhaps also the two panels of St Catherine of Alexandria and St Lucy, now in Harvard University’s Berenson Collection in Settignano, near Florence. We have no date, no signature and no documents containing any information at all regarding the dating of this work: stylistic analysis is the only element that critics have been able to use. This justifies the widely varying opinions that have been expressed on the subject.

The Madonna in the Oratory of San Lorenzo in Ponte at San Gimignano was recently discovered and assumed that Simone painted it between 1311 and 1314. Only the head of the Madonna is by Simone, since in 1413 the fresco was almost entirely redone by Cenni di Francesco: the face survived only thanks to a legend according to which the good state of conservation of Mary’s face was the result of a miracle and it should therefore not be touched. Despite the terrible conditions of the painting, the edge of the cloak, the clear veil and the lighter areas of the chin and cheeks are reminiscent of Simone’s Madonna no. 583; but the latter’s archaic composition suggests that it must have been painted a few years earlier than the San Gimignano fresco, around 1308-1310.

The Madonna of Mercy from Vertine is a splendid tempera painting only recently attributed (and not unanimously) to Simone. Here, we can still clearly see the influence of Duccio, especially in the positioning and typology of the characters sheltered under Mary’s cloak. But a new spirit prevails: a sense of real space between the heads and a feeling of life and movement in the imposing figure of the Virgin (the drapery folds do not conceal the position of her legs and she is quite noticeably turning in order to embrace all her prot�g�s) are evidence of the evolution of the artist’s more archaic ideas towards new forms of expression.

The effect of rich and precious ornamentation (a striking feature of the Maestà) is reproduced in the use of gold and silver, colourful gems set in the surface, and transparent varnishes. Although we cannot be sure that this Madonna was actually painted by Simone, no one can deny the analogies, both in technique and style, with Madonna no. 583.

After a few years of Duccio’s Maestà, Simone painted his Maestà for the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena, as the ideal of the good and just government. This is the oldest painting that can be safely attributed to him. The end wall of the Sala del Mappamondo (formerly known as Sala del Consiglio) is entirely covered by this fresco. Surrounded by a frame decorated with twenty medallions depicting the Blessing Christ, the Prophets and the Evangelists and with smaller shields containing the coat-of-arms of Siena, the fresco shows a host of angels, Saints and Apostles, with the Madonna and Child in the centre. The whole scene, set against a deep blue background, is surmounted by an imposing canopy of red silk.

The most obvious innovations present in Simone’s style are his ideas of three-dimensional space. The supporting poles of the canopy are placed in perspective, thus giving a sense of depth to the composition. Under the canopy there is a crowd of thirty people: no more processions of people in parallel rows, but concrete spacial rhythms and animated gestures.

After a few years of Duccio’s Maestà, Simone painted his Maestà for the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena, as the ideal of the good and just government. This is the oldest painting that can be safely attributed to him. The end wall of the Sala del Mappamondo is entirely covered by this fresco. Surrounded by a frame decorated with twenty medallions depicting the Blessing Christ, the Prophets and the Evangelists and with smaller shields containing the coat-of-arms of Siena, the fresco shows a host of angels, Saints and Apostles, with the Madonna and Child in the centre. The whole scene, set against a deep blue background, is surmounted by an imposing canopy of red silk.

The most obvious innovations present in Simone’s style are his ideas of three-dimensional space. The supporting poles of the canopy are placed in perspective, thus giving a sense of depth to the composition. Under the canopy there is a crowd of thirty people: no more processions of people in parallel rows, but concrete spacial rhythms and animated gestures.

After a few years of Duccio’s Maestà, Simone painted his Maestà for the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena, as the ideal of the good and just government. This is the oldest painting that can be safely attributed to him. The end wall of the Sala del Mappamondo is entirely covered by this fresco. Surrounded by a frame decorated with twenty medallions depicting the Blessing Christ, the Prophets and the Evangelists and with smaller shields containing the coat-of-arms of Siena, the fresco shows a host of angels, Saints and Apostles, with the Madonna and Child in the centre. The whole scene, set against a deep blue background, is surmounted by an imposing canopy of red silk.

The most obvious innovations present in Simone’s style are his ideas of three-dimensional space. The supporting poles of the canopy are placed in perspective, thus giving a sense of depth to the composition. Under the canopy there is a crowd of thirty people: no more processions of people in parallel rows, but concrete spacial rhythms and animated gestures.

The medallion represents St Gregory.

The medallion represents the Allegory of the Old and New Law.

The medallion depicting the Madonna and Child. is the civic seal of Siena as copied by Simne Martini.

The medallion depicting the Madonna and Child. is the civic seal of Siena as copied by Simne Martini in the Maestà.

This detail shows the enthroned Virgin with Child.

This detail shows an angel kneeling, St John the Evangelist, St Ursula, and apostles in the back row.

The detail shows Saint Catherine of Alexandria on the left side of the painting.

This detail shows St Crescentius (kneeling), St John the Baptist, St Agnes, Archangel Gabriel, and apostles in the back row.

The detail shows Saint Barbara on the right side of the painting.

The picture shows a detail of the frame: medallion with Christ Blessing.

The picture shows a detail of the frame: medallion with Pope Gregory the Great.

Martin sits on a simple foldstool (the same one that Emperor Julian was sitting on in the scene of Martin renouncing arms), while two acolytes try to bring him back to reality so he can celebrate mass in the chapel nearby: one of them is shaking him gently.

The episodes depicted in the middle level illustrate the last part of the saint’s life, after 371 when Martin was nominated Bishop of Tours, as we can see from his mitre. In the bay to the left of the entrance we find the scene of the Meditation. In a state of profound spiritual ecstasy, Martin sits on a simple faldstool (the same one that Emperor Julian was sitting on in the scene of Martin renouncing arms), while two acolytes try to bring him back to reality so he can celebrate mass in the chapel nearby: one of them is shaking him gently, and the other is handing him his missal. The two architectural spaces, parallel but of different depth, are geometrically so simple and bare that they appear to reflect the Saint’s mood of profound absorption in prayer: the only decorative elements are the horizontal Greek key design on the wall and the quatrefoiled ornament in the arch above the mullioned windows.

Recently this scene was interpreted in another way. According to this interpretation the scene represents the Dream of St Ambrose, a premonition of the saint’s death on the part of the bishop of Milan.

In the scene next to the right bay Simone has painted the Miracle of Fire, a fresco which, like the scene of the resurrected boy, is very badly damaged. The scene illustrates the event immediately after the miracle, when a tongue of flame burst down from Emperor Valentinian’s throne after he had refused to grant audience to the Saint. The sovereign, more 14th-century than his colleague Julian, is shown stretching out towards Martin, as though about to embrace him. The figure at the far left is very natural, covering his mouth with his hand in astonishment. The scene is composed of several different architectural structures, including a variety of arches: pointed arches, round arches, four-centred arches. The two-light mullioned windows also appear in two versions: the ogival Gothic variety and the more typically Romanesque. The pilasters, battlements and loggias create an effect of movement and dynamism.

Some of the figures are praying devoutly, while others, such as the knight in the blue hat, express astonishment and even scepticism. It is assumed that this is a self-portrait of the artist.

To the left of the Meditation is the fresco of the Miracle of the Resurrected Child; like the Miraculous Mass, this episode had never been included in a fresco cycle before. While Martin is praying he is approached by a woman holding her dead child in her arms; she begs him to do something and the Saint kneels in prayer. Amidst the astonishment of those present the child is resurrected.

It was pointed out that Simone does not follow the official biographies (which all report the incident as having taken place in the countryside around Chartres), but blends this event with a legend that was popular in Siena at the time. This legend was a longstanding oral tradition, which we know of from a 1657 source; it tells the story of Martin stopping in Siena while on his way to Rome on a pilgrimage. In Siena he performed a miracle so great that a church consecrated to him was built in the city. The miracle was a resurrection and this is the connection that justifies Simone’s blending of the two episodes and changing the setting to Siena. The city centre is symbolized by the building to the right: the square-topped battlements, the three-light mullioned windows on the piano nobile and the Sienese arch above the entrance door help us identify it as the Palazzo Pubblico. This is how the town hall appeared before 1325 when the bell tower, the Torre del Mangia, was added to the left.

The need to make the event recounted more immediate, to modernize an episode that had occurred almost a thousand years before, made Simone go even further. The crowd does not consist only of pagans, as the written accounts of the event described it; Simone portrays a most varied group of onlookers. A plump friar is shown looking up at a tree above the scene: he looks very much like Gentile da Montefiore. Some of the figures are praying devoutly, while others, such as the knight in the blue hat, express astonishment and even scepticism (notice how the other knight looks at him frowning, as though in reproach).

During the elevation, the most deeply spiritual moment in the mass, two angels appear and give Martin a very beautiful and precious piece of fabric to recompense him for the gift he made to a beggar.

The scene is a masterful composition of volumes and shapes with the linear elements (the candlesticks and the decoration of the altar-cloth) alternating with the solid structures of the altar and the dais, beneath a barrel-vaulted ceiling.

In the bay to the right we find the scene of the Miraculous Mass, an episode that is only very rarely included in Italian fresco cycles. This was the first time it was depicted. The event took place in Albenga and was similar to what happened in Amiens. After having given a beggar his tunic, Martin is about to celebrate mass. During the elevation, the most deeply spiritual moment in the mass, two angels appear and give Martin a very beautiful and precious piece of fabric. There is extraordinary spontaneity and beauty in the deacon’s expression of surprise, in his almost fearful gesture: his astonishment is so great that he instinctively reaches out towards his bishop. The scene is a masterful composition of volumes and shapes with the linear elements (the candlesticks and the decoration of the altar-cloth) alternating with the solid structures of the altar and the dais, beneath a barrel-vaulted ceiling.

In the case of the Orvieto Polyptych the presence of collaborators is unmistakable. Even though we cannot be entirely certain of the year in which it was painted (despite the suggestion that there is a missing letter in the inscription “MCCCXX”), the style of the work is very much under the influence of the art of Giotto and the overall mood is one of great solemnity. The frontal composition and the use of certain stylistic elements (such as a fairly rigid volumetric construction) that the Pisa Polyptych appeared to have surpassed, suggest that only the figure of the Madonna is actually by Simone.

Originally consisting of seven elements (and while St Peter, Mary Magdalene and St Dominic are all shown in exactly the same pose, St Paul is facing towards the right), this polyptych is now in the Cathedral Museum, although it was painted originally for the church of San Domenico. The painting was commissioned by the Bishop of Sovana, Trasmundo Monaldeschi, the former prior of the Dominican monastery, who paid a hundred gold florins for this altarpiece; he is portrayed in the panel together with Mary Magdalene.

The picture shows the panel with Mary Magdalene.

The picture shows the panel with St Paul. While St Peter, Mary Magdalene and St Dominic are all shown in exactly the same pose, St Paul is facing towards the right.

Thanks to Petrarch’s sonnets we know that the poet and the painter became very good friends. Simone must undoubtedly have been influenced by the proto-Humanist cultural world of Petrarch, and we can see clearly how the manuscript illumination of Petrarch’s Virgil in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan (folio 1v), with its classical and naturalistic overtones (sophisticated gestures, white cloth drapery, the delicate figures of the shepherd and the peasant), anticipates the typical style of early 15th-century French manuscript illumination.

The polyptych mentioned by Vasari was painted around 1320-25 for the church of Sant’Agostino in San Gimignano. For a long time it was thought that this polyptych had been destroyed but recently a group of scholars have reconstructed its original appearance and traced the various pieces in several museums and collections throughout the world: the central panel was the Madonna and Child now in the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne, while the side panels are the three panels in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and a St Catherine in an Italian private collection.

The design of the polyptych with all the panels on a single register, the round-arch shape of the panels, as well as a rather archaic solidity of the figures and their severe and solemn rhythms, all suggest a fairly early dating: after Assisi (and there is a great similarity with the saints on the underside of the arch), but undoubtedly before the more Gothic Pisa Polyptych. Scholars almost unanimously agree that this polyptych is the autograph work of Simone, who probably also painted a Blessing Christ to be placed above the central panel.

In 1319 a polyptych was commissoned for the convent of Santa Caterina in Pisa. This polyptych, now in the Museum of San Matteo, is without doubt the most important and grand of Simone’s signed paintings: forty-three busts of apostles, martyrs, bishops and prophets are placed in the cusps and under the trefoiled arches of the panels. The altarpiece consists of seven elements, each one in three parts: a cusp, a smaller panel divided into two sections, and a larger panel depicting a single saint. There is also a predella consisting of seven smaller size panels.

Over the centuries the polyptych has been reconstructed according to many different theories, but presently it is arranged as follows: in the cusps, next to the Blessing Redeemer, we find David playing the harp, Moses with the Tables of the Law and the prophets Jeremiah, Isaiah, Daniel and Ezechiel. On the level below, on either side of the Archangels Gabriel and Michael in the middle, we find the apostles, arranged in pairs below trefoiled arches: each one is carrying a copy of the Gospel and is identified by an inscription on the gold background. From left to right, Thaddaeus, Simon, Philip and James the Less, who are talking animatedly about the Scriptures; they are followed by Andrew and Peter.

Then, on the other side of the archangels, Paul and James Major (a shell in relief has been placed between the letters of his name); Matthew writing his Gospel, resting the book on the frame of the panel, together with Bartholomew, followed by Thomas and Mathias. On the middle level, together with Mary Magdalene, St Dominic, John the Evangelist, the Madonna and Child (and above the frame there is the inscription “Symon de Senis me pinxit”), and John the Baptist, we find Peter Martyr and Catherine of Alexandria.

The reconstruction of the predella, on the other hand, is much more certain. It revolves around the central panel where the Man of Sorrows is assisted by the Virgin and St Mark. At the sides, from left to right, we find Saints Stephen and Apollonia, Jerome and Lucy (?), Gregory and Luke, Thomas Aquinas and Augustine, Agnes and Ambrose, Ursula and Lawrence.

With a composition so full of movement, the Pisa Polyptych is extremely innovative, especially in its structure. The seven elements, the predella panels and the ones on the upper level, each consisting of two sections, not only allow the artist to include a vast number of characters, but they also allow him to describe each one with a wealth of iconographical details. For this reason, alongside characters who would traditionally be included in any polyptych, we also find figures connected to the religious Order who commissioned the altarpiece: Jerome, Gregory and Augustine as well as more recently canonized saints, such as the founder of the Order, Dominic, and Peter Martyr. Notice that Thomas Aquinas is portrayed with a halo, whereas he was not actually canonized until 1323.

There is a wide range of different connections between the various characters, although they are all portrayed here as part of a vast propaganda programme, aimed at spreading the ideological message of the Dominicans. Just one example. Preaching is the primary activity of all the monks portrayed; scrolls, parchments, books (half hidden, half open, fully open like the text Thomas Aquinas is holding, very small ones like the one of the Child) are a subtle reference to the evangelizing mission of this Order. In all, there are 27 books in this polyptych.

Simone’s absolute mastery of volumes and shapes, obtained thanks both to Duccio’s chiaroscuro technique and to his own recent experience in Assisi, is here blended with a very fluent use of vertical lines, of subtle and elegant modelling. The Gothic mood that Simone is here interpreting in terms of light, with a wide range of bright colours, creates a new relationship between image and space, between each individual measurement and the proportions of the whole composition.

The detail shows Saints Mary Magdalene, Dominic and John the Evangelist.

The detail shows Saints Peter Martyr and Catherine in the middle level, and Saints Agnes, Ambrose, Ursula and Lawrence in the lower level.

To the left, the Roman camp, with Emperor Julian, a group of soldiers and the treasurer distributing money to the mercenaries.

Thanks to the evidence provided by two sonnets by Petrarch, we know that Simone arrived in Avignon, accompanied by his family and several collaborators, around the beginning of 1336. He had been called to Avignon by one of the Italian Cardinals, probably Jacopo Stefaneschi, who had also moved to the new papal seat. It was for Cardinal Stefaneschi that Simone frescoed the church of Notre-Dame-des-Doms in Avignon. The portal frescoes, the Saviour Blessing and the Madonna of Humility, the synopias of which are now in the Palace of the Popes, although in very bad condition, are interesting and reveal a very high quality.

The picture shows the east wall of the chapel. The scenes are: Miracle of the Resurrected Child (scene 5, above left), Meditation (scene 6, above right), Division of the Cloak (scene 1, below left), and Dream of St Martin (scene 2, below right).

The pictorial program of the chapel interior includes ten scenes from the life of St martin, essentially based on the Golden Legend. All of the scenes are dominated by a calm, restrained, almost gentle narrative tone. There is no lack of genrelike elements, , far more powerful than these, however, are echoes of a courtly milieu, which are expressed openly in the penchant for chivalric motifs. The faces are usually very realistic, displaying a broad spectrum of physiognomic characterization and lively expression. The colour was once more richly nuanced, but much of it has been lost as a result of the extensive use of secco painting.

The picture shows the west wall of the chapel. The scenes are: Miraculous Mass (scene 7, above left), Miracle of Fire (scene 8, above right), St Martin is Knighted (scene 3, below left), and St Martin Renounces his Weapons (scene 4, below right).

The pictorial program of the chapel interior includes ten scenes from the life of St martin, essentially based on the Golden Legend. All of the scenes are dominated by a calm, restrained, almost gentle narrative tone. There is no lack of genrelike elements, , far more powerful than these, however, are echoes of a courtly milieu, which are expressed openly in the penchant for chivalric motifs. The faces are usually very realistic, displaying a broad spectrum of physiognomic characterization and lively expression. The colour was once more richly nuanced, but much of it has been lost as a result of the extensive use of secco painting.

The Picture: Although the MMA panel was widely ascribed to the mid-fourteenth century master Lippo Vanni, in 1974 Boskovits made the case for attributing it and four related panels to Simone Martini, and this attribution is now widely accepted. He also identified the saint as the apostle Andrew, as had Weigelt (1929), and this identification has been borne out by the traces of the apostle’s name that was once painted on the gold background to either side of the saint’s head (the traces are clearly visible in the image appearing on the website). Further, Boskovits suggested that these five panels formed an altarpiece commissioned from Simone in 1326 for the Palazzo Pubblico and that was mentioned rather generically by Ghiberti in his Commentaries: “and in the said palace a very good altarpiece.” The five panels in question are, left to right: Saint Ansanus (Robert Lehman Collection, MMA, 1975.1.13), Saint Peter (Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid), Madonna and Child (Robert Lehman Collection, MMA, 1975.1.12), Saint Andrew, and Saint Luke (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles). Saint Ansanus is the patron saint of Siena and in this work he holds the official black and white banner—the balzana. His presence would be expected on an altarpiece for the Commune, but is not conclusive evidence.

Unusually for an altarpiece, the panels are all rectangular—not gabled—and they are all of the same size (in traditional Italian altarpieces the center panel is invariable wider than the lateral ones by approximately one third). The frames are no less unusual, being of a cassetta-type normally associated with small, portable panels. For that reason they were frequently supposed to be later. However, technical examination demonstrates that they are original; indeed, that on the Saint Luke is still engaged (the others were removed from their respective panels, which were then cradled: for the construction of the frames see Newbery and Kanter 1990). Curiously, there is no sign that the panels were hinged together, and this may be important for understanding the function of the altarpiece, as unhinged panels could be re-combined according to need.

Boskovits’ attribution of the panels to Simone Martini as well as his proposal for the identification of the altarpiece was not universally accepted (Eisenberg 1981). Both points were, however, upheld by Christiansen (1988, 1994), who undertook a thorough re-examination of the documents. He noted that the altarpiece commissioned from Simone in 1326 could not have been commissioned for the Cappella dei Signori on the main floor of the Palazzo Pubblico, since that chapel did not exist before the fifteenth century (the first notice is in 1405). He also argued that it does not seem initially to have been painted for the earlier ground floor Cappella dei Nove, which was constructed between 1307 and 1310 and for which documents mention other works. Rather, he suggested that the 1326 work must have been a multi-functional altarpiece and that the two notices related to it suggest its possible identity with the five panels that concern us. The first notice describes what was either an altarpiece or single panel painting that was kept—at least temporarily, as a fire had damaged part of the Palazzo Pubblico—in the Palazzo del Capitano (“una tavola per tenere nel Palazzo del Capitano”) and for which “Maestro Simone” was paid thirty lire in April and August 1326. Six months later, in February 1327, what must be the same work—the value was the same—was lent by the Commune to the residence of the Podesta and then returned to the Palazzo Pubblico. This document makes it clear that there were three panels, not one, and these showed the Madonna and Child, Saint Peter, and Saint Andrew, thus agreeing with three of the panels of our reconstructed altarpiece. Of the two remaining saints, Ansanus was the patron of the Comune (as already noted), while according to one source, the Cappella dei Signori was initially dedicated to Saint Luke.

Christiansen then picked up the story in the fifteenth century, when the Cappella dei Signori became the principal chapel in the palace, receiving a cycle of frescoes by Taddeo di Bartolo, intarsia choir stalls by Domenico di Niccolo dei Cori, a holy water font by Giovanni di Turino, and an elaborate wrought iron grill—all still extant. In 1448 the signori set up a commission to determine the condition of the altarpiece then in situ. This must be the same altarpiece that Ghiberti ascribed to Simone Martini. It was judged to be precarious, and the commission was to decide on what action to take and how much the necessary work would cost. The carpenter Giovanni di Vicho di Magno was engaged to create a dais, a wooden canopy, and an elaborately inlaid frame, the stated notion being to make the frame conform with the inlaid choir stalls that had been executed by Domenico di Niccolo between 1415 and 1428. Further, Sano di Pietro was engaged to paint five panels with stories from the Life of the Virgin, to be placed as a predella below the panels by Simone Martini. These were to be based on frescoes that had been painted a century earlier by Simone Martini and Ambrogio and Pietro Lorenzetti. The five predella panels were identified by Eisenberg and are now divided among the Pinacoteca Vaticana, the Lindenau-Museum, Altenburg, and the University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor. The completed altarpiece would have had a highly unusual and perhaps unique appearance, but it would have harmonized beautifully with the rest of the chapel furnishings. Taking these considerations together, and noting that Sano di Pietro’s predella panels are the same width as the framed panels by Simone, Christiansen proposed a detailed reconstruction (see fig. 1 above). His arguments have been accepted by some scholars and rejected and/or modified by others. Maginnis (2001) objected to the “bizarre framing,” maintaining that “there is absolutely no evidence that any quattrocento Sienese altarpiece was so framed.” This is curious, as the character of the frame is fully documented (De Marchi [2010, p. 172] cites analogies). Bagnoli (1999) objected not to the reconstruction, per se, but argued that the style of the various panels points to a date earlier than 1326 and the improbability that they relate to the documents. By contrast, Leone de Castris (2003), De Marchi (2010), and Polzer (2012) have accepted the reconstruction; De Marchi suggests on the evidence of style that Simone painted first the three panels with the Madonna and Child and Saints Peter and Andrew and then added the remaining two at a subsequent moment—something Christiansen had left open as a possibility. Polzer ascribes the panels to Simone Martini assisted by the very young Lippo Vanni.

The altarpiece in the Cappella dei Signori was dismantled by 1686, when it was replaced by The Holy Family with Saint Leonard by Sodoma. Documents relating to the various dismembered parts can be found until the end of the eighteenth century, but none are specific enough to make the identification of any surviving panels with the altarpiece absolutely certain.

The most influential Sienese painter of the early 14th century was Simone Martini. His Gothic style, which combined extraordinary descriptive subtlety with decorative beauty, spread throughout Europe. This panel, one of five belonging to a portable altarpiece (two companion panels are in the Robert Lehman Collection), is an excellent example of the delicacy and richness of Simone’s work. The drawing of the hands is remarkably sensitive, and the folds of the pink robe, modeled in green, are beautifully worked. Especially notable is the rich tooling of the gold background.

Of Sienese nobility, Ansanus became a Christian at the age of twelve and preached his faith until he was denounced by his father to the Emperor Diocletian and was martyred at the age of twenty in the year 303. In his right hand he holds a palm branch, symbolizing his martyrdom, and in his left he holds Siena’s official black and white banner – the balzana – signifying his status as patron saint of the city. The nuanced modeling of his fingers as they grasp the staff attests to the artist’s achievements in capturing naturalistic effects. This half-length figure of the saint closely recalls a full-length version that appears in Simone Martini’s Annunciation altarpiece of 1333 (in the Uffizi, Florence).

The present painting formed part of a five-panel polyptych that included, from left to right, St Ansanus (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), St Peter (Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid), the present Madonna and Child, Saint Andrew (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) and St Luke (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles).

Unusually for an altarpiece, the panels are all rectangular - not gabled - and they are all of the same size (in traditional Italian altarpieces the centre panel is invariable wider than the lateral ones by approximately one third). Curiously, there is no sign that the panels were hinged together, and this may be important for understanding the function of the altarpiece, as unhinged panels could be re-combined according to need.

The panels are attributed to Simone Martini, and they probably formed an altarpiece commissioned from Simone in 1326 for the Palazzo Pubblico.

On the underside of the entrance arch of the Cappella di San Martino eight full-length saints are painted in four pairs. They are Saints Francis, Clare, and Anthony of Padua - tributes to the Order that administered the Basilica - as well as other saints connected to Robert of Anjou: Louis of Toulouse, his older brother; Elizabeth of Hungary, the aunt of his mother, Mary; Louis IX, King of France, his great-grandfather; Mary Magdalene and Catherine of Alexandria, saints his father Charles II was particularly devoted to.