National Gallery Washington DC

Byzantine 13th Century (artist) Madonna and Child on a Curved Throne, 13th century tempera on panel overall: 84 x 53.5 cm (33 1/16 x 21 1/16 in.) painted surface: 82.4 x 50.1 cm (32 7/16 x 19 3/4 in.) framed: 90.8 x 58.3 x 7.6 cm (35 3/4 x 22 15/16 x 3 in.) Andrew W. Mellon Collection 1937.1.1 Text from: www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=35

Byzantine 13th Century (artist) Madonna and Child on a Curved Throne, 13th century tempera on panel overall: 84 x 53.5 cm (33 1/16 x 21 1/16 in.) painted surface: 82.4 x 50.1 cm (32 7/16 x 19 3/4 in.) framed: 90.8 x 58.3 x 7.6 cm (35 3/4 x 22 15/16 x 3 in.) Andrew W. Mellon Collection 1937.1.1 Text from: www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=35

Margaritone d'Arezzo (artist) Italian, active second half 13th century Madonna and Child Enthroned, c. 1270 tempera on panel overall: 97.3 x 49.5 cm (38 5/16 x 19 1/2 in.) height (main panel, without extension for head and halo): 73.2 cm (28 13/16 in.) top section (extension for head and halo): 26.6 x 23.5 cm (10 1/2 x 9 1/4 in.) framed: 102.2 x 55.9 x 5.7 cm (40 1/4 x 22 x 2 1/4 in.) Samuel H. Kress Collection 1952.5.12 Text from: www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=41622

Simone Martini (artist) Italian, c. 1284 - 1344 The Angel of the Annunciation, c. 1333 tempera on panel painted surface (on recto): 29.5 x 20.5 cm (11 5/8 x 8 1/16 in.) overall: 31 x 21.5 cm (12 3/16 x 8 7/16 in.) painted surface (gesso ground on verso): 21 x 30.2 cm (8 1/4 x 11 7/8 in.) framed: 54.6 x 32.9 x 4.1 cm (21 1/2 x 12 15/16 x 1 5/8 in.) Samuel H. Kress Collection 1939.1.216 This small panel was originally half of a two-part panel made for private devotion. Rich with textured gold and marked by Gabriel's graceful silhouette, it is typical of Simone’s refined style. Note the angel's ornate robe. In the decades following Marco Polo's return from China, thousands of caravans traveled the silk route carrying luxurious textiles west. As woven patterns of brocade and damask replaced embroidered and appliqued decoration, Italian cities grew wealthy from textile production and trade. Simone Martini devised new ways to re-create the look of these fabrics, and since much of the original paint of this panel has been lost, it is possible to see his technique. The entire panel, except for the hands and face, was gilded over an underlayer of red. Next Simone painted the angel’s robe in delicate pinks, shadowed with darker tones to define folds and the body. After tracing the outlines of the brocade, he scraped away the paint in the pattern area to reveal the gilding below, and finally textured the gold with tiny punches. This technique may have been inspired by Islamic “sgraffito” (scratched) ceramics, which were imported into Italy. Text from: www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=357

Lippo Memmi (artist) Italian, active 1317/1347 Madonna and Child with Donor, probably c. 1335 tempera on panel overall: 56.5 x 24.1 cm (22 1/4 x 9 1/2 in.) framed: 70 x 36.2 x 5.1 cm (27 9/16 x 14 1/4 x 2 in.) Andrew W. Mellon Collection 1937.1.11 Text from: www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=13

Master of Saint Francis (artist) Italian, active second half 13th century Saint John the Evangelist, probably c. 1270/1280 tempera on panel overall (painted surface): 48.3 x 22.5 cm (19 x 8 7/8 in.) overall: 49.8 x 24.2 cm (19 5/8 x 9 1/2 in.) framed: 58.4 x 32.7 x 6 cm (23 x 12 7/8 x 2 3/8 in.) Samuel H. Kress Collection 1952.5.16 Text from: www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=41626

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

Domenico Veneziano (artist) Italian, c. 1410 - 1461 Saint John in the Desert, c. 1445/1450 tempera on panel overall: 28.4 x 31.8 cm (11 3/16 x 12 1/2 in.) framed: 40.6 x 44.1 x 5.1 cm (16 x 17 3/8 x 2 in.) Samuel H. Kress Collection 1943.4.48 One of Domenico Veneziano's major works is an altarpiece that he painted about 1445 for the Church of Santa Lucia dei Magnoli, in Florence. The incident illustrated in this small panel from the base of the altarpiece is John's act of exchanging his rich, worldly clothes for a rough, camel–hair coat. In the few known representations of John in the wilderness that preceded Domenico's version, the emphasis was placed either on the divine origin of the saint's animal skin or on his preaching. Domenico, however, shifted attention from mere narration to the spiritual significance of John's decision to forsake luxury in favor of a life of piety. Rather than showing the saint in the usual manner, as a mature, bearded hermit, Domenico painted a youthful figure. Clearly classical in appearance, his saint is one of the earliest embodiments of the Renaissance preoccupation with antique models. However, a fusion of pagan and Christian ideas is suggested; the Grecian type is transformed into a religious being by the golden halo above his head. Another innovative combination of elements exists in the arrangement of this male nude in a landscape that retains artistic features from the High Gothic era of the late Middle Ages. Symbolic rather than realistic, the rugged mountains enliven the drama of John's decision by emphasizing the desolate nature of his chosen environment. Text from: www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=12146

Lippo Memmi (painter) Italian, active 1317/1347 Saint John the Baptist, probably c. 1325 tempera on panel overall: 94.3 x 45.4 cm (37 1/8 x 17 7/8 in.) framed: 99.1 x 48.3 x 6 cm (39 x 19 x 2 3/8 in.) Samuel H. Kress Collection 1939.1.291 Text from: www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=434

Lippo Memmi (painter) Italian, active 1317/1347 Saint John the Baptist, probably c. 1325 tempera on panel overall: 94.3 x 45.4 cm (37 1/8 x 17 7/8 in.) framed: 99.1 x 48.3 x 6 cm (39 x 19 x 2 3/8 in.) Samuel H. Kress Collection 1939.1.291 Text from: www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=434

Mino da Fiesole (artist) Italian, 1429 - 1484 Astorgio Manfredi, 1455 marble overall: 51.5 x 54.2 x 27.7 cm (20 1/4 x 21 5/16 x 10 7/8 in.) Widener Collection 1942.9.135 On View From the Tour: 15th-Century Sculpture in Tuscany Mino da Fiesole and his patrons, the Medici family of Florence, were pioneers in the revival of an ancient Roman art form—the independent portrait bust. The subject of this work, Astorgio Manfredi, was a condottiere, or mercenary captain, who offered his services and those of his army to warring Italian city-states. He was governor of Faenza in 1455 when he commissioned the twenty-five-year-old Mino to carve his portrait, perhaps inspired by busts that the artist had made two years earlier for his Florentine ally Piero de’Medici. Manfredi is depicted as a man of action. With deeply incised eyes set beneath a furrowed brow, he gazes intently into the distance. His face sags softly under his chin; deep vertical folds cut into the flesh of his cheeks. Over a shirt of intricately carved chain mail, Manfredi wears a richly embossed breastplate. An inscription on the underside of the work—one of the earliest to be found on a Renaissance portrait bust—identifies the sitter, artist, and date of completion: ASTORGIVS. MANFREDVS. SECVNDVS. FAVENTIE. DOMINVS./ ANNO. XLII. ETATIS SVE./ 1455./ OPVS. NINI. (“Astorgio II Manfredi, Lord of Faenza, in the 42nd year of his age, 1455, the work of Nino.”) The spelling here of Mino’s name as Nino remains unexplained. Text from: www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=1274

Benedetto da Maiano (sculptor) Italian, 1442 - 1497 Saint John the Baptist, c. 1480 painted terracotta overall: 48.9 x 52.1 x 26 cm (19 1/4 x 20 1/2 x 10 1/4 in.) Andrew W. Mellon Collection 1937.1.130 The popular Florentine subject of the young John the Baptist is here presented in a different conception from that of Antonio Rossellino's delicately beautiful marble bust. The difference is not only in the medium, painted terra cotta, which has retained much original coloring that contributes to an immediate naturalism. The sculptor of this bust also has given it a particular psychological intensity. The face is thinner; the features relatively individualized; and the gaze distant in a way that from some angles suggests inward concentration on his message, from others suggests focus on some faraway listener. The long, richly modeled and differentiated hair is at once elegant in its swirling waves and unruly in its loose wisps, suggesting passionate energy that is reiterated by the cloak sweeping across the chest to twist into a knot at one side. The open mouth implies the saint is already preaching. Benedetto da Maiano was primarily a sculptor in marble, but a number of his terra-cotta productions survive, both sketch models and independent works. An almost life-size, marble statue of the young Saint John the Baptist by Benedetto, datable c.1480/81, is part of a marble doorway in the Sala dei Gigli in the Palazzo della Signoria, Florence's town hall. Text from: www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=137

Filippino Lippi (painter) Italian, 1457 - 1504 Portrait of a Youth, c. 1485 oil and tempera on panel overall: 52.1 x 36.5 cm (20 1/2 x 14 3/8 in.) framed: 90.8 x 71.8 x 15.2 cm (35 3/4 x 28 1/4 x 6 in.) Andrew W. Mellon Collection 1937.1.20 Filippino Lippi was the son of the painter Fra Filippo Lippi, who was undoubtedly the boy's first master. After his father died in 1469, he became a pupil of Botticelli, who had a profound influence on his style. In fact, the Washington portrait comes so close to Botticelli's style that there has been considerable disagreement among scholars as to exactly which artist was responsible for it. Although it has been attributed more often to Botticelli than to Filippino, most recent authors are now agreed that it is by the younger painter. In 1483 or 1484, Filippino was assigned the task of finishing Masaccio's great frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel in Florence. This portrait bears a great resemblance to a young man portrayed there by Filippino. During the Gothic era and early Renaissance, donors of a painting would often be portrayed as tiny figures praying at the lower edge of a painting, as in Crivelli's Madonna Enthroned with Donor. During the Renaissance a new interest in the individual, in human character and feeling, gave rise to the genre of portraiture as an artistic expression. Filippino's likeness of an unknown sitter shows a young man dressed in the typically plain costume of a well-to-do Florentine of the time Text from: www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=22

Florentine 15th Century (painter) Profile Portrait of a Young Man, 1430/1450 tempera on panel overall: 42.4 x 32.5 cm (16 11/16 x 12 13/16 in.) framed: 69.2 x 61.6 x 6.4 cm (27 1/4 x 24 1/4 x 2 1/2 in.) Andrew W. Mellon Collection 1937.1.14 Text from: www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=16

Florentine 15th Century (painter) Profile Portrait of a Young Man, 1430/1450 tempera on panel overall: 42.4 x 32.5 cm (16 11/16 x 12 13/16 in.) framed: 69.2 x 61.6 x 6.4 cm (27 1/4 x 24 1/4 x 2 1/2 in.) Andrew W. Mellon Collection 1937.1.14 Text from: www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=16