Culture

Fourteenth-century Sienese masterpieces on display in London

Immagine dell'opera "La madonna e suo figlio"

Supported by Intesa Sanpaolo as Lead Exhibition Sponsor, Siena: the Rise of Painting: 1300-1350 is an internationally significant exhibition on display at the National Gallery in London until 22 June 2025. The showcase—born from the partnership between the National Gallery in London and Metropolitan Museum in New York—is the first comprehensive exhibition outside Italy devoted entirely to the most extraordinary era of Sienese art.

Medieval art on display at the National Gallery in London

This exhibition features more than 100 masterpieces from the 14th century, including paintings, sculptures, goldsmith artifacts, marbles, enamels, silks and rugs, gathered from major museums and cultural centres in Tuscany and some of the world’s most prestigious museums. This is a unique opportunity to bask in the eternal beauty of works by great painters such as Duccio di Buoninsegna (circa 1255-1318/1319), the father of the Sienese school and painter of the famous Maestà: made for Siena Cathedral, this was the first altarpiece painted on the front and back and is a glowing example of the convergence of classic Byzantine style with certain figurative elements related to Gothic and Florentine innovations. Nearly 5 metres high and unanimously considered the most important and impressive altarpiece in Italian art, the Maestà was dismantled in 1771. The predella was cut into individual scenes; some panels were scattered and ended up in the collections of some of the world's most important museums, including the Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC and the National Gallery in London itself.

The exhibition provides a unique opportunity to view all eight surviving panels of the back predella, brought together for the first time in more than 250 years.

1. Duccio, The Temptation of Christ on the Temple, about 1308-11, Tempera on poplar, 48 x 50 cm

2. Duccio, The Temptation of Christ on the Mountain, about 1308-11 1927.1.35, Tempera on poplar, 43.2 x 46 cm

3. Duccio, The Calling of the Apostles Peter and Andrew, about 1308-11, Tempera on poplar, 43.3 x 46.2 cm

4. Duccio, The Wedding at Cana, about 1308-11, Tempera on poplar, 43.5 x 46.5 cm

5. Duccio, Christ and the Woman of Samaria, about 1308-11, Tempera on poplar, 43.5 x 46 cm

6. Duccio, The Healing of the Man born Blind, 1307/8-11, egg tempera on wood, 45.1 x 46.7 cm

7. Duccio, The Transfiguration, 1307/8-11, egg tempera on wood, 48.5 x 51.4 cm

8. Duccio, The Raising of Lazarus, 1310-1311, Tempera on poplar, transferred to cork, 43.5 x 46.4 cm

1. Museo dell'Opera della Metropolitana, Siena © Foto Studio Lensini Siena
2. The Frick Collection, New York Purchase 1927 (1927.1.35) © Copyright The Frick Collection / photo Michael Bodycomb
3. National Gallery of Art, Washington Samuel H. Kress Collection (1939.1.141) Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
4. Museo dell'Opera della Metropolitana, Siena © Foto Studio Lensini Siena
5. Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid (133 (1971.7)) © Copyright Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
6. The National Gallery, London. Bought, 1883 © The National Gallery, London.
7. The National Gallery, London. Presented by R.H. Wilson, 1891 © The National Gallery, London.
8. © Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas (APx 1975.01)

Other works on display include another Duccio di Buoninsegna masterpiece, the so-called “London Triptych”, a portable altarpiece depicting the Virgin and Child between Saints Dominic and Aurea of Ostia, routinely displayed at the National Gallery and juxtaposed for this event with the “Boston Triptych”, or Triptych depicting the Crucifixion between Saints Nicholas of Bari and Gregory, from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The two triptychs are very similar in terms of shape, size, and construction, and it is almost certain that they were both made for the private devotion of Cardinal Bishop of Ostia and Velletri, Niccolò da Prato.

1. Duccio, The Virgin and Child with Saint Dominic and Saint Aurea, and Patriarchs and Prophets, about 1312-15 (?), egg tempera on wood, 61.4 × 39.3 cm, The National Gallery, London. Bought, 1857 © The National Gallery, London.
2. Duccio, Triptych with the Crucifixion, Saint Nicholas, Saint Clement and the Redeemer with Angels 1311-18, Tempera and gold on wood, 61 x 39.4 cm (central panel, with engaged frame); 45.1 x 19.4 cm (left wing, with engaged frame); 45.1 x 20.2 cm (right wing, with engaged frame), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Grant Walker and Charles Potter Kling Funds (45.880) © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts

The exhibition is also an opportunity to admire the Orsini Polyptych by Simone Martini in its entirety. The six panels of this work are usually found between the Louvre in Paris, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp and the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin. This polyptych is a portable altarpiece (circa 1326-1334) consisting of four double-sided painted wooden tablets that could be folded shut for ease of transport by the client. The work depicts the Annunciation, the Passion of Christ and the Orsini family coat of arms.

1. Simone Martini, The Angel Gabriel, about 1326-34, Tempera on poplar, 29.7 x 20.5 cm (with engaged frame)

1. Simone Martini, The Annunciate Virgin, about 1326-34, Tempera on poplar, 29.7 x 20.5 cm (with engaged frame)

1. Simone Martini, The Crucifixion, about 1326-34, Tempera on poplar, 29.6 x 20.5 cm (with engaged frame)

1. Simone Martini, The Deposition, about 1326-34, Tempera on poplar, 29.5 x 20.6 cm (with engaged frame)

2. Simone Martini, The Way to Calvary, about 1326-34, Tempera on poplar, 30 x 20.5 cm (with engaged frame)

3. Simone Martini, The Entombment, about 1326-34, Tempera on poplar, 23.7 x 16.7 cm

1. Collection KMSKA - Flemish Community (public domain) © Collection KMSKA - Flemish Community / photo Hugo Maertens
2. Museo del Louvre, Département des Peintures, Paris (INV 670 bis) © RMN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Gérard Blot© RMN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Gérard Blot
3. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie (1070A) © Photo Scala, Florence/bpk, Bildagentur für Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte, Berlin / Jörg P. Anders

“Siena: the Rise of Painting: 1300-1350”, London

Siena: the Rise of Painting: 1300-1350 was curated by Laura Llewellyn, curator of Italian paintings before 1500 at the National Gallery in London, Caroline Campbell, director of the National Gallery of Ireland and Stephan Wolohojian, John Pope-Hennessy curator in charge of European paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, in collaboration with Joanna Cannon of The Courtauld Institute of Art in London and Imogen Tedbury.

The exhibition caps off a year of celebrations marking the bicentenary of the National Gallery, for which, in 2024, a display entitled The Last Caravaggio—dedicated to the Martyrdom of Saint Ursula, a masterpiece in the Intesa Sanpaolo collections—was organised and proved a huge success in London during the Spring/Summer season, averaging 3,000 visitors a day.

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Last updated 18 April 2025