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SASSETTA
One of the Greatest Painters Of All Time
1394 - 1450
Italian International Gothic, Byzantine Style, Architect and Painter of the Sienese School
Artistically and stylistically influenced by the following painters; Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Pietro Lorenzetti, Duccio di Buoninsegna and Coppo di Marcovaldo
Medium - Tempera on wood
Sassetta, born Stefano di Giovanni, was perhaps the greatest of the early 15th century Sienese painters. He dabbled in the St. Francis's cult of poverty and occasionally cast off all his worldly possessions and took to the road, creating small portraits for a bowel of porridge or a crust of moldy bread. Like St. Francis, Sassetta believed that in order to free the spirit he must shed his earthly possessions. Fortunately his enormous talent and love of painting always returned him to the studio after just a few weeks of deprivation. When he was not consumed with religious fervor he was known as a bit of a mischief maker, with a lurid sense of humor and a tolerable eccentricity.
Sassetta had a fantastic and lively imagination, which in some of his works expresses itself in all manner of bizarre Biblical scenarios and divine visions. His paintings combine a lyrical narrative quality with awe-inspiring fanatical obsession. It is Sassetta' s zeal for holy figures and the passion he expresses that makes his paintings still to appear so stunningly effective. Sassetta possessed the wonderful ability to convey atmosphere and mood. His devotion to St. Francis, St. Anthony and other divine figurers show clearly in his art. He is now considered to be one of the most brilliant artistic geniuses of all time.
His repertoire included emotionally charged representations of the holy figures of the Christian faith--Christ, Saints, The Cross, Virgin Mary, Chalice, Keys, The Anchor, Wheat , The Good Shepherd, The Apostles, Animals, Fish, Angels, Birds, Insects and Satan.
Sienese Painting
While
Byzantine art is
strict and
aloof, Sienese painting
possesses a mystic sincerity. It seems
as if the stone vaults of
the churches had suddenly
become transparent, and the
eyes gazed upwards towards
heaven, where tender
ethereal beings, singing and
praising the Highest, lived
in eternal youth and
lovingly gazed down upon
mankind. In his great
Madonna of the
Cathedral,
Duccio gave first
impulse. This Mary is no
linger sever and dignified,
but mild and gracious, as if
she has had pity upon the
longing soul of the
believer; for a soft dreamy
melancholy transfigures her
features. Her relation to
the Child also is changed;
she is no longer the
involuntary mother of God,
but a tender mother.
Duccio explored in his
own art a new world of
emotion and passion, but
with a lyricism and
sensitivity to color that
became the foundation of
Sienese painting.
Key Descriptive Words and Phrases associated with the Renaissance Movement - rebirth, rediscovery of the classical world, publication of Della Pittura, a book about the laws of mathematical perspective for artists, sfumato, chiaroscuro, Savonarola, spiritually significant, illuminated manuscript, idealized biblical themes, scriptorium, illuminator, Age of Discovery, axonometric drawing, curiosity about the natural world, realistic use of colours and light, Bonfire of the Vanities, Old Testament stories, ethereal and foggy backgrounds, Gospel parables, The Blackdeath, romanticized landscapes, Christian symbolism.
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Key Italian Sienese Artists Listed AlphabeticallyTaddeo di Bartolo (1362-1422) Italian, Sienese, Early Renaissance
Giovanni Antonio Bazzi (1477-1548) Italian, Sienese, High Renaissance
Domenico di Pace Beccafumi 1486-1551) Italian, Sienese, Renaissance
Duccio di Buoninsegna (1255-1319) Italian, Sienese, Early Renaissance
Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia (1403-1483) Italian, Sienese, Early Renaissance
Sano di Pietro (1406-1481) Italian, Sienese, Early Renaissance
Ambrogio Lorenzetti (1290-1348) Italian, Sienese, Early Renaissance
Pietro Lorenzetti (1280-1348) Italian, Sienese, Early Renaissance
Coppo di Marcovaldo (1225-1274) Italian, Sienese, Early Renaissance
Simone Martini (1280-1344) Italian, Sienese, Early Renaissance
Lippo Memmi (1285 -1361) Italian, Sienese, Early Renaissance
Giovanni di Paolo (1399-1482) Italian, Sienese, Renaissance
Sassetta (1394-1450) Italian, Sienese, Early Renaissance
Sodoma (1477-1548) Italian, Sienese, High Renaissance
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