A Madonna is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word is from Italian ma donna 'my lady'. The Madonna and Child type is very prevalent in Christian iconography, divided into many traditional subtypes especially in Eastern Orthodox iconography, often known after the location of a notable icon of the type, such as the Theotokos of Vladimir, Agiosoritissa, Blachernitissa, etc., or descriptive of the depicted posture, as in Hodegetria, Eleusa, etc.
Duccio di Buoninsegna 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.
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.
Ugolino di Nerio was an Italian painter active in his native city of Siena and in Florence between the years 1317 and 1327.
The Maestà, or Maestà of Duccio is an altarpiece composed of many individual paintings commissioned by the city of Siena in 1308 from the artist Duccio di Buoninsegna and is his most famous work. The front panels make up a large enthroned Madonna and Child with saints and angels, and a predella of the Childhood of Christ with prophets. The reverse has the rest of a combined cycle of the Life of the Virgin and the Life of Christ in a total of forty-three small scenes; several panels are now dispersed or lost. The base of the panel has an inscription that reads : "Holy Mother of God, be thou the cause of peace for Siena and life to Duccio because he painted thee thus." Though it took a generation for its effect truly to be felt, Duccio's Maestà set Italian painting on a course leading away from the hieratic representations of Byzantine art towards more direct presentations of reality.
Lippo Memmi was an Italian painter from Siena. He was the foremost follower of Simone Martini, who was his brother-in-law.
The decade of the 1300s in art involved some significant events.
The Church of Santa Maria dei Servi is a Romanesque style, Roman Catholic church in the Terzo of San Martino in the city of Siena, Tuscany, Italy.
Madonna with Child and Six Angels, or The Perugia Madonna, is a Madonna painting by Gothic artist Duccio di Buoninsegna.
The Tarlati polyptych is a Renaissance polyptych painted by the Italian artist Pietro Lorenzetti, with tempera and gold on panel, in 1320. It is located at the church of Santa Maria della Pieve in Arezzo, Italy.
The Pinacoteca Nazionale is a national museum in Siena, Tuscany, Italy. Inaugurated in 1932, it houses especially late medieval and Renaissance paintings from Italian artists. It is housed in the Brigidi and Buonsignori palaces in the city's center: the former, built in the 14th century, it is traditionally identified as the Pannocchieschi family's residence. The Palazzo Bichi-Buonsignori, although built in the 15th century, has a 19th-century neo-medieval façade based on the city's Palazzo Pubblico.
The Perugia Altarpiece is a painting by the Italian early Renaissance painter Fra Angelico, housed in the Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria of Perugia, Italy.
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 Saint Catherine of Alexandria Polyptych is a painting by the Italian medieval artist Simone Martini, dating to 1320. Originally placed at the high altar of the church of Santa Caterina in Pisa, it is now housed in the Museo Nazionale di San Matteo of the same city.
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.
Pietro di Giovanni Lianori was an Italian painter, active in Bologna.
Santi Pietro e Paolo is a Baroque-style, Roman Catholic parish church located in the center of the town of Buonconvento, region of Tuscany, Italy.
The Flagellation of Christ is a panel painting by 13th-century Italian artist Cimabue, in egg tempera and gold leaf on a poplar panel, dated to c.1280. It has been held by the Frick Collection in New York since 1950, and is the only painting by Cimabue in the US. The Frick Collection acquired the painting from the Knoedler gallery in Paris in 1950. Previously, it had been owned by the antiques dealer M Rolla at the end of the 19th century, inherited by G Rolla, and then sold to the art dealer Eduardo Moratilla.
The Life of Christ is a series of five paintings in tempera and gold on panel depicting scenes from the Life of Christ and the Last Judgement. The works date to around 1290–1300 and are attributed to the circle of Cimabue or to a Venetian artist. They are now in various museums and private collections: the Longhi Foundation in Florence, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Portland Art Museum, the Pedralbes Monastery near Barcelona and a private collection in Milan.
