Siena: The Rise of Painting 

at the National Gallery 

8 March - 22 June 

The echoes of Duccio's Maestà continue into the third talk in our series celebrating Sienese art, given that Simone Martini is often considered Duccio’s true heir: he was even commissioned to paint his own Maestà in fresco on the walls of the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena. He was also, like Pietro Lorenzetti, commissioned to paint one of the four altars surrounding Duccio’s great altarpiece, although sadly The Annunciation - a collaboration with Lippo Memmi - will not be leaving the Uffizi. For obvious reasons the frescoed Maestà is also staying put. Another absence will be his majestic Saint Louis of Toulouse in Naples. However, we will look at all three of these projects as an essential part of this week's talk. 

Having said that, the small-scale works which will be included in the National Gallery's exhibition are arguably even better, showing Simone's delicacy and tenderness with an almost unfathomable subtlety. Christ discovered in the Temple, from the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, is undoubtedly one of the greatest trecento paintings in Britain. There are also two reconstructed altarpieces, the Orsini Polyptych, a masterpiece of elegance and delicacy, whose four double-sided panels are on loan from three separate institutions. Three other collections have lent the five panels from the Palazzo Pubblico Altarpiece – which makes the exhibition a 'must': we will probably never have another chance to see them together again.