Siena: The Rise of Painting 1300–1350
Client: The National Gallery, 2024 |
Edited by Joanna Cannon | with Caroline Campbell and Stephan Wolohojian
280 x 240 mm | 312pp
“This is a book to be savored and treasured, much like the objects it celebrates.”
Ann Landi, Wall Street Journal
This book was designed in conjunction with exhibitions at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and The National Gallery, London, in 2024 and 2025.
In the early 1300s the city of Siena gave rise to an extraordinary period of creativity and innovation. The book traces the evolution of a celebrated era of Italian art, a turning point when the prestige of painting reached new heights. Siena became the centre of a rich exchange of ideas between artists and art forms, as painters took inspiration from marble and ivory sculptures, intricate metalwork and precious imported silks to enhance the power of their work. Travelling beyond their native city, Sienese artists made their mark across Italy and into northern Europe.
Featuring important new scholarship, chapters explore masterpieces by four of Siena’s most illustrious painters – Duccio, Simone Martini, and Ambrogio and Pietro Lorenzetti. Their paintings are considered alongside objects from other countries and cultures, encouraging fresh perspectives and dialogues between these groundbreaking works.









