Siena
Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.
The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...
. It was one of the artist's first works. Alessandro Bagnoli, Roberto Bartalini, Luciano Bellosi,
Michel Laclotte
Michel Laclotte (Saint Malo, France, 27 October 1929 – Montauban, 10 August 2021) was a French art historian and museum director, specialising in 14th and 15th century Italian and French painting.
Early life and education
Laclotte's father, ...
, ''Duccio'', Silvana Editore, Milano 2003.
History
Based on his investigation, Vittorio Lusini believes that the panel was probably made for the Church of Santi Pietro e Paolo of
Montepescini
Montepescini is a village in Tuscany, central Italy, administratively a frazione of the comune of Murlo, province of Siena. At the time of the 2001 census its population was 29.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
Siena Cathedral ( it, Duomo di Siena) 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.
It was the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Siena, and ...
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
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. Ducc ...
.
As for the elements that led to its dating, the table does not contain any of the Gothic novelties found in the ''
Rucellai Madonna
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 ...
'' (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.
Description and style
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
Odigitria is the archaeological site of an ancient Minoan religious complex including two tholos tombs located near the modern Odigitria Monastery in the Asterousia mountains of southern Crete.
The tombs are dated from Early Minoan I to Middle M ...
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
Castelfiorentino is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, central-northern Italy, halfway between Florence (distance 30 km), Pisa (45 km) and Siena (55 km). The population is approximate ...
(
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
) 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
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 ...
'' (1285) where Duccio will introduce Gothic elements that will never characterize Cimabue's work.