Biography

Italian painter. He worked in Siena in the second half of the 14th century and was one of the generation of artists who inherited and upheld the conventions of Duccio, Simone Martini and Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti. While he was not an innovator, his extensive output helped to sustain the decorative Sienese style that was to survive well into the 15th century. Over 50 works have been attributed to him, mostly altarpieces, although it is not always possible to distinguish his hand. Documentary and inscriptional evidence shows that he was a prolific and respected artist. One of his main patrons was the Opera del Duomo, the authorities of Siena Cathedral, for which he also acted as a consultant. In style his works developed from an early, more imitative mode to a distinctive interpretation of the relationship between figures and their backgrounds, with a growing interest in line, ornament and texture.