| Crevole Madonna | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Duccio di Buoninsegna |
| Year | c. 1283-1284 |
| Type | Tempera and gold on wood |
| Dimensions | 86 cm× 60 cm(34 in× 24 in) |
| Location | Museo dell'Opera metropolitana del Duomo, Siena |
The Crevole Madonna is a tempera and gold on wood panel painting by Duccio di Buoninsegna, created c. 1283-1284. It was originally in the Pieve di Santa Cecilia in Crevole and now its held in the Museo dell'Opera metropolitana del Duomo in Siena. It was one of the artist's first works. [1]
Based on his investigation, Vittorio Lusini believes that the panel was probably made for the Church of Santi Pietro e Paolo of Montepescini and then moved to the Augustinian hermitage of Montespecchio. With the suppression of the hermitage and the transfer of the monks in the 17th century, the panel was moved to the parish Church of Santa Cecilia in Crevole, which also housed the monks of Montespecchio. In recent times it was transferred to the Museo dell'Opera metropolitana del Duomo of the Siena Cathedral where it is located today. It was restored in 1929-1930. The state of conservation is more than satisfactory.
The work is not signed by the artist, nor are there written documents that help in the attribution. However, experts attribute it, without conflicting opinions, to the young Duccio.
As for the elements that led to its dating, the table does not contain any of the Gothic novelties found in the Rucellai Madonna (1285), but the face of the Madonna and Child are already characterized by a figurative sweetness and refinement that are still absent in Duccio's first works, namely the Gualino Madonna (1280-1283). The most correct dating therefore seems to be around 1283-1284.
The table depicts the Madonna with her head reclined in three quarters and a Child who stretches his right arm to tenderly touch his mother's veil. Two small angels appear in the upper corners of the table. The setting is that of the Madonna Odigitria of the Byzantine tradition, with the variant of the tender gesture of the son caressing his mother, whose sad expression is due to the premonition of the destiny of sacrifice and death of Jesus, symbolized by the apparition of angels. The panel is very similar, in general setting, to the Madonna di Castelfiorentino exhibited in the Museum of Santa Verdiana in Castelfiorentino (Florence) and attributed to Cimabue. This similarity supports the theory, also formulated on the basis of other much more solid evidence, that the young Duccio of these years was a pupil of the older Cimabue.
Beyond this similarity, the faces of the Madonna and Child are much more delicate and humanized in Duccio's table. Maria's face is more elongated and her eyes are closer to each other, but it is also the greater pictorial delicacy that makes the difference (compare the dimples above the mouth and the backs of the two noses). The face of Jesus is also softer and less angular, with a characteristic potato chip nose. The veiled transparency of his robe and the intimate gesture with his right arm towards his mother, very different from the rude fussing of Cimabue's, contribute to making his figure more delicate. These perceptible differences show the progressive detachment of Duccio's style from that of Cimabue, a detachment that appeared almost imperceptible in the previous Gualino Madonna (1280-1283) of a decidedly Cimabuesque influence A further detachment from the master Cimabue will take place with the subsequent Rucellai Madonna (1285) where Duccio will introduce Gothic elements that will never characterize Cimabue's work.
Cimabue, also known as Cenni di Pepo or Cenni di Pepi, was an Italian painter and designer of mosaics from Florence.
Duccio di Buoninsegna, commonly known as just Duccio, was an Italian painter active in Siena, Tuscany, in the late 13th and early 14th century. He was hired throughout his life to complete many important works in government and religious buildings around Italy. Duccio is considered one of the greatest Italian painters of the Middle Ages, and is credited with creating the painting styles of Trecento and the Sienese school. He also contributed significantly to the Sienese Gothic style.
Giovanni Pisano was an Italian sculptor, painter and architect, who worked in the cities of Pisa, Siena and Pistoia. He is best known for his sculpture which shows the influence of both the French Gothic and the Ancient Roman art. Henry Moore, referring to his statues for the facade of Siena Cathedral, called him "the first modern sculptor".
Arnolfo di Cambio was an Italian architect and sculptor. He designed Florence Cathedral and the sixth city wall around Florence (1284–1333), while his most important surviving work as a sculptor is the tomb of Cardinal de Braye in S. Domenico, Orvieto.
Pietro Lorenzetti or Pietro Laurati was an Italian painter, active between c. 1306 and 1345. Together with his younger brother Ambrogio, he introduced naturalism into Sienese art. In their artistry and experiments with three-dimensional and spatial arrangements, the brothers foreshadowed the art of the Renaissance.
Siena Cathedral is a medieval church in Siena, Italy, dedicated from its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church, and now dedicated to the Assumption of Mary.
Taddeo di Bartolo, also known as Taddeo Bartoli, was an Italian painter of the Sienese School during the early Renaissance. He is among the artists profiled in Vasari's biographies of artists or Vite. Vasari claims he is the uncle of Domenico di Bartolo.
Astolfo Petrazzi (1583–1665) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, active mainly in his hometown of Siena, but also Spoleto and Rome. He was a pupil of mainly Francesco Vanni, but also worked under Ventura Salimbeni and Pietro Sorri. He died in Siena.
The decade of the 1280s in art involved some significant events.
Dietisalvi di Speme was an Italian painter, who worked in Siena between 1250 and 1291. In his work he influenced and was influenced by Cimabue.
The Maestà is a painting by the Italian artist Cimabue, executed around 1280 and housed in the Musée du Louvre in Paris.
The Rucellai Madonna is a panel painting representing the Virgin and Child enthroned with Angels by the Sienese painter Duccio di Buoninsegna. The original contract for the work is dated 1285; the painting was probably delivered in 1286. The painting was commissioned by the Laudesi confraternity of Florence to decorate the chapel they maintained in the Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella. It was transferred to the Galleria degli Uffizi in the 19th century. The Rucellai Madonna is the largest 13th-century panel painting extant.
The Santa Trinita Maestà is a panel painting by the Italian medieval artist Cimabue, dating to c. 1288-1292. Originally painted for the church of Santa Trinita, Florence, where it remained until 1471, it is now housed in the Uffizi Gallery of Florence, Italy. It represents the Madonna enthroned with the Baby Jesus and surrounded by eight angels and, below, four half portraits of prophets.
The Nativity of the Virgin is a painting by the Italian late medieval painter Pietro Lorenzetti, dating from around 1335–1342, now housed in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo of Siena, Italy.
The Gualino Madonna is a painting attributed to Italian late medieval artist Duccio di Buoninsegna. It is housed in the Galleria Sabauda of Turin, northern Italy.
Cimabue's Celebrated Madonna, originally called Cimabue's [Celebrated] Madonna [is] Carried in Procession through the Streets of Florence, is an oil painting by English artist Frederic Leighton. Measuring more than two metres tall and more than five metres wide, the canvas was painted by Leighton from 1853 to 1855 in Rome as his first major work.
Master of Città di Castello, in Italian, Maestro di Città di Castello, was an anonymous painter of Medieval art. Mason Perkins is responsible for his identification and naming in 1908, based on the styling from the Master preserved at the Pinacoteca comunale, Città di Castello, in Umbria.
The Museo dell'Opera del Duomo is an art museum in Siena, in Tuscany in central Italy. It houses works of art and architectural fragments that were formerly in, or a part of, the Duomo of Siena. These include a number of Italian Gothic sculptures by Giovanni Pisano and his school from the façade of the cathedral; the Maestà of Duccio di Boninsegna, which was the altarpiece from about 1311 until 1505 or 1506; and works by Ambrogio and Pietro Lorenzetti. There are also works moved to the museum from other churches in the area, such as the Madonna of Duccio brought from the Pieve di Santa Cecilia at Crevole in the comune of Murlo.
The Castelfiorentino Madonna is a tempera-and-gold-on-panel painting attributed to the Italian painter Cimabue, dating to c.1283–1284. Showing a half-length Madonna Odigitria-type Madonna, it originally hung in the collegiate church of Santi Lorenzo e Leonardo but now hangs in the Museo di Santa Verdiana in Castelfiorentino.