SIMONE MARTINI
(b. 1280/85, Siena, d. 1344, Avignon)

Madonna in Glory with Musician Angels (detail)

1311-14
Fresco
Oratorio di San Lorenzo in Ponte, San Gimignano

The Madonna in the Oratory of San Lorenzo in Ponte at San Gimignano was recently discovered and assumed that Simone painted it between 1311 and 1314. Only the head of the Madonna is by Simone, since in 1413 the fresco was almost entirely redone by Cenni di Francesco: the face survived only thanks to a legend according to which the good state of conservation of Mary's face was the result of a miracle and it should therefore not be touched. Despite the terrible conditions of the painting, the edge of the cloak, the clear veil and the lighter areas of the chin and cheeks are reminiscent of Simone's Madonna no. 583; but the latter's archaic composition suggests that it must have been painted a few years earlier than the San Gimignano fresco, around 1308-1310.




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