LaurieAnnie's photos with the keyword: Duccio

Madonna and Child, ca. 1300. Duccio di Buoninsegna (Italian, Sienese, active by 1278, died 1318). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Purchase, Rogers Fund, Walter and Leonore Annenberg and The Annenberg Foundation Gift, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, Annette de la Renta Gift, Harris Brisbane Dick, Fletcher, Louis V. Bell, and Dodge Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, several members of The Chairman's Council Gifts, Elaine L. Rosenberg and Stephenson Family Foundation Gifts, 2003 Benefit Fund, and other gifts and funds from various donors, 2004 (2004.442). Exhibition Text Panel About Duccio’s Madonna and Child: Between about 1290 and 1310 Western art was redefined by two towering geniuses: Giotto (1266/67–1337), from Florence, and Duccio (act. by 1278, d. 1318), from Siena. Both artists explored different but complementary ways in which art could involve the viewer’s experience of the everyday world without losing a sense of the sacred. Giotto—first at Assisi in the 1290s and then in the Arena Chapel in Padua (ca. 1305)—emphasized a rigorously constructed space with three-dimensional figures in gravely meaningful poses. By contrast, Duccio emphasized color and delicately articulated figures to achieve a more lyrical but no less human effect. His art was more influenced by Byzantine than contemporary Roman practice. Like Giotto’s fresco cycle in the Arena Chapel in Padua, his magnificent Maestà altarpiece for the cathedral of Siena (Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena) became a point of reference for the next generation of artists. Although small in size, the Metropolitan’s newly acquired Madonna and Child is a landmark of European painting. The Madonna is shown as though standing behind a parapet—a device that simultaneously connects and separates the timeless, hieratic realm of the divine figures and the real space and time of the viewer. The gestures of Mary and Jesus are recognizably human yet imbued with sacred meaning. As in the contemporary poetry of Dante, so in Duccio’s art a naturalistic impulse enriches the religious theme. Because this picture was intended for private devotion (there are two candle burns along the bottom of the original frame), Duccio may have felt encouraged to explore a new, more intimate visual language. Painted about 1300, the picture marks the transition from Medieval to Renaissance image making and sets the stage for the achievement of such artists as Simone Martini, Fra Filippo Lippi, and Giovanni Bellini. Exhibition Text Panel About Duccio: Our knowledge of Duccio’s life comes entirely from documents relating to his activity as a painter, his ownership of property, and fines for misdemeanors. For example, in 1279 and 1302 he was fined for trespassing. There are records in 1302 of his refusal to fulfill his military obligations and of a further misdemeanor. Like all painters of the day, Duccio undertook a wide variety of tasks, ranging from decorating the account books of the fiscal branch (the Biccherna) of Sienese government to designing the enormous stained glass window in the apse of the cathedral of Siena (1287–88), to painting major altarpieces and small panels for private devotion. Only about a dozen independent works by the artist survive. Of his seven children, three became painters. Duccio’s early paintings are still strongly indebted to the visual and iconographic traditions we associate with Byzantine art. He was in touch with the two leading Florentine painters, Cimabue and Giotto, and also knew northern Gothic art. Together with Giotto, his later works set the stage for the early Renaissance by endowing figures and objects with a physical and emotional dimension that, in retrospect, made earlier paintings seem mere images. The Metropolitan’s painting is among his first works in the new style, and its unknown owner must have appreciated the privileged access to the sacred figures that Duccio’s innovations gave him. Text from: www.metmuseum.org/special/Duccio/duccio_more.htm#3

Madonna and Child, ca. 1300. Duccio di Buoninsegna (Italian, Sienese, active by 1278, died 1318). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Purchase, Rogers Fund, Walter and Leonore Annenberg and The Annenberg Foundation Gift, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, Annette de la Renta Gift, Harris Brisbane Dick, Fletcher, Louis V. Bell, and Dodge Funds, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, several members of The Chairman's Council Gifts, Elaine L. Rosenberg and Stephenson Family Foundation Gifts, 2003 Benefit Fund, and other gifts and funds from various donors, 2004 (2004.442). Exhibition Text Panel About Duccio’s Madonna and Child: Between about 1290 and 1310 Western art was redefined by two towering geniuses: Giotto (1266/67–1337), from Florence, and Duccio (act. by 1278, d. 1318), from Siena. Both artists explored different but complementary ways in which art could involve the viewer’s experience of the everyday world without losing a sense of the sacred. Giotto—first at Assisi in the 1290s and then in the Arena Chapel in Padua (ca. 1305)—emphasized a rigorously constructed space with three-dimensional figures in gravely meaningful poses. By contrast, Duccio emphasized color and delicately articulated figures to achieve a more lyrical but no less human effect. His art was more influenced by Byzantine than contemporary Roman practice. Like Giotto’s fresco cycle in the Arena Chapel in Padua, his magnificent Maestà altarpiece for the cathedral of Siena (Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena) became a point of reference for the next generation of artists. Although small in size, the Metropolitan’s newly acquired Madonna and Child is a landmark of European painting. The Madonna is shown as though standing behind a parapet—a device that simultaneously connects and separates the timeless, hieratic realm of the divine figures and the real space and time of the viewer. The gestures of Mary and Jesus are recognizably human yet imbued with sacred meaning. As in the contemporary poetry of Dante, so in Duccio’s art a naturalistic impulse enriches the religious theme. Because this picture was intended for private devotion (there are two candle burns along the bottom of the original frame), Duccio may have felt encouraged to explore a new, more intimate visual language. Painted about 1300, the picture marks the transition from Medieval to Renaissance image making and sets the stage for the achievement of such artists as Simone Martini, Fra Filippo Lippi, and Giovanni Bellini. Exhibition Text Panel About Duccio: Our knowledge of Duccio’s life comes entirely from documents relating to his activity as a painter, his ownership of property, and fines for misdemeanors. For example, in 1279 and 1302 he was fined for trespassing. There are records in 1302 of his refusal to fulfill his military obligations and of a further misdemeanor. Like all painters of the day, Duccio undertook a wide variety of tasks, ranging from decorating the account books of the fiscal branch (the Biccherna) of Sienese government to designing the enormous stained glass window in the apse of the cathedral of Siena (1287–88), to painting major altarpieces and small panels for private devotion. Only about a dozen independent works by the artist survive. Of his seven children, three became painters. Duccio’s early paintings are still strongly indebted to the visual and iconographic traditions we associate with Byzantine art. He was in touch with the two leading Florentine painters, Cimabue and Giotto, and also knew northern Gothic art. Together with Giotto, his later works set the stage for the early Renaissance by endowing figures and objects with a physical and emotional dimension that, in retrospect, made earlier paintings seem mere images. The Metropolitan’s painting is among his first works in the new style, and its unknown owner must have appreciated the privileged access to the sacred figures that Duccio’s innovations gave him. Text from: www.metmuseum.org/special/Duccio/duccio_more.htm#3

European Painting before 1900, Johnson Collection Angel Probably a pinnacle from Duccio's Maestà, from the Cathedral of Siena; cut and rounded at the top; companion pinnacles in collection of J. H. van Heek, 's Heerenberg; Mount Holyoke College Art Museum (P.PI.45.1965); private collection By 1311 Workshop of Duccio (Duccio di Buoninsegna), Italian (active Siena), first documented 1278, died 1318 Tempera and tooled gold on panel with vertical grain 9 1/2 x 6 11/16 inches (24.1 x 17 cm) Currently not on view Cat. 88 John G. Johnson Collection, 1917 Label: The wand in the angel's hand identifies him as an archangel. With these wands the archangels expelled Satan from heaven, thereby securing their privileged position as messengers of God. This panel comes from the pinnacle, or top section, of Duccio's large altarpiece known as the Maestà, which he made for the cathedral of Siena. Maestà is an Italian term for a depiction of the Virgin in a heavenly court. The altarpiece was disassembled in 1771. Text from: www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/102710.html

Duccio di Buoninsegna (artist) Italian, c. 1255 - 1318 The Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew, 1308/1311 tempera on panel overall: 43.5 x 46.2 cm (17 1/8 x 18 3/16 in.) framed: 53.3 x 55.9 x 4.4 cm (21 x 22 x 1 3/4 in.) Samuel H. Kress Collection 1939.1.141 On View From the Tour: Byzantine Art and Painting in Italy during the 1200s and 1300s This was one of the rear panels of Duccio’s magnificent Maestà in Siena cathedral. With more than fifty individual scenes, the altarpiece was about fourteen feet wide and towered to gabled pinnacles some seventeen feet over the main altar. It was installed in June 1311 after a triumphant procession through the streets of Siena. Priests, city officials, and citizens were followed by women and children ringing bells for joy. Shops were closed all day and alms were given to the poor. Completed in less than three years, the Maestà was a huge undertaking for which Duccio received 3,000 gold florins—more than any artist had ever commanded. Nevertheless, Duccio, like all artists of his time, was regarded as a craftsman and was often called on to paint ceiling coffers, parade shields, and the like. Not until the middle and later fourteenth century did the status of artists rise. Duccio signed the main section of the Maestà, or “Virgin in Majesty,” which is still in Siena. His signature, one of the earliest, reads: “Holy Mother of God, be the cause of peace for Siena and life for Duccio because he painted you thus.” This plea for eternal life—and perhaps fame—signals a new self-awareness among artists. Within a hundred years signatures become commonplace. This rear panel of the Maestà is at least partly the work of Duccio’s students and assistants. Text from: www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=282