Whereas Section 3 is focused on paintings of different types, such as landscapes & portraits, this Section is of a geographical type. Hence it focuses on painting in different countries, provinces & towns; & provides data on the different time periods into which their paintings divide & their most important artists; together with the location of key works. It may be thought that this is unnecessary because such information can readily be obtained from guide books. However, wasted journeys indicate that this is not the case. A feature of this Section is the provision of background information of a political & economic nature where this has not already been presented in Section 3.
Countries & towns are listed under their current titles which means, for instance, that Flanders & the Spanish Netherlands are regarded as Belgium, & Leningrad as St Petersburg. The obscure term Netherlandish, beloved by art historians, but not readily intelligible, has been avoided & is where necessary replaced by Low Countries. Each of the different & differing periods into which the painting of the various countries may be divided is listed in date order.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
BOLOGNA:
Background: From 1506 the town was under (continuing) papal control EBrit. However, the ruling senatorial families retained some autonomy under Papal rule Haskell p202. An artistic eclecticism was facilitated by its situation between Parma, Venice, Milan & beyond. Archbishop Paleotti, published a treatise on the reform of religious painting in accord with the tenets of the Council of Trent L&L
Historiography: During the mid-19th century the school’s reputation collapsed largely due to Ruskin; & there was no re-evaluation until the work of Cesare Gnudi, & Sir Denis Mahon with his pioneering Studies in Seicento Art and Theory, 1947 NG Art1986 pp ix-x, OxDicArt
Phases: During the 17th & 18th centuries Classicism was dominant (Reni, Albani, Cignani, Franchechini) Grove4 p277. Around 1650 there was a shift in Bolognese painting from an energetic & declamatory mode to a gentle, reflective & intimiste mood; though the change had already been indicated by the later pictures of Reni & Guercino NG Art1986 pp 412-3. This classicism differed from the severe type of Poussin & Maratta, or the serenity of Claude. Moreover it features erotic, & sometimes flagrantly sexual, subject matter NG Art1986 pp 180, 187, 370, 403, 542, Wittkower pp 82, Salomon pp 42, 67, 69-71, 86, 88, Spear Pl 13. Another distinctive trait is the woman who is swooning or in a trance-like state NG Art1986 p 503, Solomon p39, Spear Pl 29, 78, 83 Bologna became a pre-eminent artistic centre, celebrated for its great decorative fresco cycles in palaces & churches, & promoted by the Bolognese art historian Malvasia. The decoration of walls & ceilings was enhanced by the Bolognese speciality of quadratura. However during the 19th century the artistic world became stagnant Grove4 p277, Waterhouse1962 p102
Patronage: Senatorial families, & at 17th century’s end, merchants (especially Giovanni Ricci) bought extensively from native painters Haskell p202
Painters:
16th century: Bagnacavallo; Calvaert (Flanders); the Carracci; Cesi; Lavinia & Prospero Fontana; Francia/Raibolini; Laurenti; Muziano; Camillo Procaccini; Samacchini; (Tibaldi); Passarotti; Vitale da Bologna; Venusti L&L, NG Art1986 pp 43-4
17th century: Albani; Cagnacci; Cantarini; Cavedonni; Cignani; Gessi; Mastelletta; Nosadella/Bezzi; Pasinelli; Primaticcio; Reni; Elisabetta Sirani; Tiarini Waterhouse1962, NG Art1986
18th century: Lo Spagnolo/Crespi NG Art1986
Notable Paintings in the Pinacoteca Nazionale:
Abate Roger Assails Armed Guards
Albani Madonna Enthroned with S. Catherine of Alexandria & Mary Magdalene
Cantanari SS. Anthony of Padua & Francis of Paola
Carracci, Agostino Last Communion of S. Jerome;
Assumption of Virgin
Carracci, Annibale Madonna & Child in Glory with Six Saints ie the S. Ludovico Altar
Carracci, Ludvico Madonna & Child with Saints & Donor ie the Bargellini Madonna; Annunciation; Conversion of S. Paul; Crowning with Thorns
Domenichino Landscape with Sylvia & Satyrs
Parmigianino Madonna & Child
Pasinelli Julia Swooning; Martyrdom of S. Ursula
Passerotti S. Dominic &the Albigensians
Reni Massacre of the Innocents
Sirani S. Jerome
Notable Churches with Art:
Giacomo Maggiore
Giovanni in Monte
Gregorio
Maria della Carita
Michele in Bosco (library)
Nicolo degli Albari
Paolo Msggiore
Petronio
Salvatore
Other Notable Art Sites :
Collezione d’arte e di documentazione …Castlea si Risparmio
Palazzo Magnani
Palazzo Pepoli Campogrande
Palazzo Poggi
BRITISH & IRISH PAINTING:
Britain, Painting Before the Reformation:
It would be wrong to see English painting of this period as being generally backward & insular. A long series of psalters & other books from around 1220 were comparable to those being produced in France & were sometimes more graceful Martindale pp 72-8. Around 1330 East Anglia was produced some of the most interesting art made in northern Europe & thereafter the area was characterised by magnificent patronage Binski pp 6-7. Foreign artists arrived in England from a wide area, including the Netherlands & paintings display many sources: Italy, Avignon & Bohemia. Henry VII brought in a large group of Flemish artists who formed a permanent & influential community.
However, English artists continued the native medieval tradition of line & clear colour. They did not adopt the more painterly approach & use of naturalistic space that appeared on the Continent in the second half of the 15th century. The religious scenes from about 1490 at Eton College chapel have elegant figures with graceful flowing lines closely related to courtly Late Gothic Grove10 pp 245-6.
There does not appear to be any evidence of painting in England that was comparable to that of Van Eyck or Van der Weyden.
English Painting from Holbein to Oliver, 1526-1617
When, under Edward VI, Somerset ended the persecution of Protestants, England became a Mecca for continental reformers, especially Zwinglians. Lutherans, who were less doctrinaire, refused Archbishop Cranmer’s invitation Elton p204. Somerset by means of royal proclamations launched a zealous war against images leading to the destruction of stained glass, paintings etc Innes pp 190, 192, 194. The bulk of monuments in London churches seem to have gone by the end of Edward’s reign (1553). Shiploads of precious objects were exported. Under Elizabeth iconoclasm was resumed & was now more or less completed even in the more remote parts of the country. There was an enormous loss in things of beauty, & it would be surprising if this did not have an adverse effect on the appreciation of painting Rowse pp 224, 466, 469-70.
There was little native painting tradition. Old religious themes were proscribed during the Reformation & there was no demand for mythological pictures. Henry VIII was only interested in portraits: a demand which was met by Holbein. He had good assistants but they seem to have produced little independent work. After Holbein’s death in 1543, portraiture was undertaken by the Netherlandish & Germany painters Guillim Scrots, Hans Ewarth & Gerlach Flicke; & also by the Englishman George Gower. From the early 1570s the full length portrait returned to popularity & went on being painted until 1625. These were of a distinctive, highly stylised costume variety & depicted Elizabeth, courtiers & aristocrats Waterhouse1953 pp 13, 15, 22, 24, 27, 29, 34, 38, 41-2.
Painters, excluding temporary residents: Sir Nathaniel Bacon; Cooper; John de Critz; Custodis; Eworth; Flicke; Gheeraerts; Gower; David des Granges; Thomas Hill; Hilliard; JacksonD; George Jamesone; Ketel; Larkin; Isaac Oliver; Robert Peake; John Scougall; Scrots Waterhouse1953
| Costume Portraits in Britain, 1575-1625
Category: Costume portraits were identified by Ellis Waterhouse as the most typical form of portraiture from about 1690-1625, although they originated around 1675 Waterhouse1953 pp 36, 41 Background: Holbein & Eworth developed non-plastic & flat styles with figures in elaborate clothing & having aloof & inscrutable features Waterhouse1953 pp 19-21. The Elizabethan nation state which was under external threat was insular with a new ruling class headed by great intermarried dynasties (Cecils, Russells, Cavendishes). Patronage was all-important in literature & music which flourished. However there was a post-Reformation “fear of the visual image”. Italian perspective was known about but not utilised. Imaging became primarily verbal & where images were visual in painting, sculpture & architecture they were abstract & diagrammatic. They were composed of patterns & symbols that required reading, as the extraordinary portraits of Elizabeth indicate. Due to court patronage (though not from Elizabeth) art served the State (with authors working for the Cecil or Dudley cliques). It was an aggressive nouveau culture with the trappings of bygone & chivalric eras Strong2000 pp 173-190 Links: Oliver was Hilliard’s pupil Waterhouse1953 p33. There were closely associated workshops of painters of Flemish origin connected by marriage the main families being the de Critz & Gheeraerts, to whom Peake & Oliver were connected Waterhouse1953 p41 Characteristics: Paintings were often full length, which had been out of favour since early 1550s, though there were also miniatures. The paintings were initially of great persons either alone or in family groups. Works had an enamelled effect & were non-representational, flat, stiff & decorative with a painstaking rendering of fabrics, lace & embroidered patterns. Faces were aloof & inscrutable. However Oliver made greater use of light & shade, & modelled in the round Waterhouse1953 pp 19-21, 38, 41-5. Painters: John de Critz; Cornelis Ketel; Marcus Gheeraerts; Hilliard; Oliver; Robert Peake; together with portraits of Elizabeth by unknown hands Waterhouse1953 |
BRITAIN: BEFORE THE REFORMATION:
It would be wrong to see English painting of this period as being [generally] backward & insular. A long series of psalters & other books from around 1220 were comparable to those being produced in France & were sometimes more graceful Martindale pp 72-8. Around 1330 East Anglia was produced some of the most interesting art made in northern Europe & thereafter the area was characterised by magnificent patronage Binski pp 6-7. Foreign artists arrived in England from a wide area, including the Netherlands & paintings display many sources: Italy, Avignon & Bohemia. Henry VII brought in a large group of Flemish artists who formed a permanent & influential community.
However, English artists continued the native medieval tradition of line & clear colour. They did not adopt the more painterly approach & use of naturalistic space that appeared on the Continent in the second half of the 15th century. The religious scenes from about 1490 at Eton College chapel have elegant figures with graceful flowing lines closely related to courtly Late Gothic Grove10 pp 245-6.
[Nevertheless there does not appear to be any evidence of painting in England that was comparable to that of Van Eyck or Van der Weyden. Portraits apart, very few panel paintings have survived from the pre-Reformation period but those that have (the Thornham Parva, Despenser & Westminster Abbey Retables) suggest that painting was of a less sophisticated type. This is unsurprising as there were no great urban cetres that were comparable to Bruges.] It had a population of around 200,000 in 1400 whereas Norwich had no more than 10,000 & London something like 50,000 McFayden pp 2-6, Clapham1949 p78.
BRITAIN: FROM HOLBEIN TO OLIVER, 1526-1617
When, under Edward VI, Somerset ended the persecution of Protestants, England became a Mecca for continental reformers, especially Zwinglians. Lutherans, [who were less doctrinaire,] refused Archbishop Cranmer’s invitation Elton p204. Somerset by means of royal proclamations launched a zealous war against images leading to the destruction of stained glass, paintings etc Innes pp 190, 192, 194. The bulk of monuments in London churches seem to have gone by the end of Edward’s reign (1553). Shiploads of precious objects were exported. Under Elizabeth iconoclasm was resumed & was now more or less completed even in the more remote parts of the country. There was an enormous loss in things of beauty, & it would be surprising if this did not have an adverse effect on the appreciation of painting Rowse pp 224, 466, 469-70.
There was little native painting tradition. Old religious themes were proscribed during the Reformation & there was no demand for mythological pictures. Henry VIII was only interested in portraits: a demand which was met by Holbein. He had good assistants but they seem to have produced little independent work. After Holbein’s death in 1543, portraiture was undertaken by the Netherlandish & Germany painters, ie Guillim Scrots, Hans Ewarth & Gerlach Flicke; & also by the Englishman George Gower. From the early 1570s the full length portrait returned to popularity & went on being painted until 1625. These were of a [distinctive, highly stylised] costume variety & depicted Elizabeth, [courtiers & aristocrats] Waterhouse1953 pp 13, 15, 22, 24, 27, 29, 34, 38, 41-2.
Painters, excluding temporary residents: Sir Nathaniel Bacon; Cooper; John de Critz; Custodis; Eworth; Flicke; Gheeraerts; Gower; David des Granges; Thomas Hill; Hilliard; JacksonD; George Jamesone; Ketel; Larkin; Isaac Oliver; Robert Peake; John Scougall; Scrots Waterhouse1953
| Costume Portraits in Britain, 1575-1625
Category: Costume portraits were identified by Ellis Waterhouse as the most typical form of portraiture from about 1690-1625, although they originated around 1675 Waterhouse1953 pp 36, 41 Background: Holbein & Eworth developed non-plastic & flat styles with figures in elaborate clothing & having aloof & inscrutable features Waterhouse1953 pp 19-21. The Elizabethan nation state, which was under external threat, was insular with a new ruling class headed by great intermarried dynasties, such as the Cecils, Russells &Cavendishes). Patronage was all-important in literature & music which flourished. However there was a post-Reformation “fear of the visual image”. Italian perspective was known about but not utilised. Imaging became primarily verbal. Where images were visual in painting, sculpture & architecture they were abstract & diagrammatic. They were composed of patterns & symbols that required reading, as the extraordinary portraits of Elizabeth indicate. Due to court patronage (though not from Elizabeth) art served the State with authors working for the Cecil or Dudley cliques. It was an aggressive nouveau culture with the trappings of bygone & chivalric eras Strong2000 pp 173-190 Links: Oliver was Hilliard’s pupil Waterhouse1953 p33. There were closely associated workshops of painters of Flemish origin connected by marriage. The main families were the de Critz & Gheeraerts, to whom Peake & Oliver were connected Waterhouse1953 p41 Characteristics: Paintings were often full length, which had been out of favour since early 1550s, though there were also miniatures. The paintings were initially of great persons either alone or in family groups. Works had an enamelled effect & were non-representational, flat, stiff & decorative with a painstaking rendering of fabrics, lace & embroidered patterns. Faces were aloof & inscrutable. However Oliver made greater use of light & shade, & modelled in the round Waterhouse1953 pp 19-21, 38, 41-5. Painters: John de Critz; Cornelis Ketel; Marcus Gheeraerts; Hilliard; Oliver; Robert Peake; together with portraits of Elizabeth by unknown hands Waterhouse1953 |
BRITAIN: FROM MYTENS TO LELY , 1617-1680
In 1617-8 there was a move away from costume pieces with the paintings of Paul von Somer, Abraham van Blojenbach & Daniel Martens from the Low Countries & the start of the career of the English-born Cornelius Johnson Waterhouse1953 p51. The possibility of a native School flowering under the influence of the sound craftsmanship of Mytens & Johnson was scotched by the arrival of Van Dyck with his dazzlingly sophistication W&M p67-8. Under Charles I patronage in painting was confined to the royal family & a few courtiers. Even Laud regarded Van Dyke merely as an expensive court painter T-R1940 p126.
[Hostility to foreign artists did not mean that native artists were favoured. There was a tendency to look down on native artists & to regard painting as a fancy & popish activity for which foreigners were perversely suited. This was an aspect of] English nationalism & the Puritan glorification of the English as a chosen people Strong2000 p385, Stone1972 pp 99-100. There was a sustained & pervasive Dutch influence on the arts in Stuart England. The subject-matter & technical virtuosity of certain forms of Dutch painting were popular but it was Italy that reigned supreme for travellers, virtuosi & [collectors W&M p8. Hence Dutch & other artists from Northern Europe were largely employed for portrait & other work, & those who collected paintings, like Charles I & the Earl of Arundel, mainly bought works from the Italian Renaissance.]
However, diaries & guide books covering Italy by cultivated men describe the treasures of palaces & churches but scarcely mention pictures. With few exceptions painting was not intelligently appreciated even by the upper classes Trevelyan1902 pp 5-6. [There were two fundamental reasons.
(i) The first was Puritanism.] There was already a marked puritan tendency in England during the latter part of Elizabeth’s reign. It was intensified as a result of] economic dislocation in the late 16th century & early 17th century together with disturbing signs of social breakdown. This encouraged Puritanism with its moral discipline & led to increased action by churchwardens & overseers of the poor against vagrants, bastardy, drunkenness, etc Stone1972 p173. Puritans believed in parochial discipline supervised by lay elders to provide relief for the impotent poor, work for the sturdy, & punishment for the idle. Hugh Peter in a 1645 sermon to Parliament said that in seven years he had never seen a beggar or drunkard in New England & asked why there were so many English beggars despite available jobs Hill p84. [In Britain, in contrast to the Low Countries, the under-class was never seen as picturesque & amusing. The very idea of enjoyment & amusement by the lower orders was frowned upon.] This was reflected in the dispute between the Crown & the Puritans over traditional Sunday sports. These were encouraged by James I & Charles but were viewed with hostility by Puritans as a violation of the Sabbath & a diversion from the proper Sunday activity of listening to afternoon sermons. Employers, who were hostile to over-indulgence by their employees, & justices & other respectable folk who disliked the consequent brawls & possible bastards, could unite with Puritans Hill pp 84-6. Outside a narrow court circle painting apart from portraiture was viewed with hostility. Prior to the Civil War the Catholic element at court, which deliberately strengthened its position by giving art to Charles, centered on Henrietta Maria & stirred up deep mistrust & hatred W&M p6. As Horace Walpole said, “Painting became idolatry” Walpole2 p76. Parliament even resolved that all royal pictures depicting Christ or the Virgin should be burned Macaulay1 p129. The King’s preference for foreign painters was bitterly resented by the reactionary nationalist Painter-Stainers Company in City W&M p6. The attitude to painting was but one aspect of a wider opposition to the arts, vide the longstanding Puritan hostility to acting, This culminated in Prynne’s violent attack on the stage in Histriomastix & the closure of theatres by Parliament in 1640 Hill p96, Feiling p410, Wedgewood1955 pp 100-1. Even anthems, polyphony & church organs were disliked Hill p82.
(ii) [The second underlying reason why painting was little appreciated was social cleavage.] During the period before the Civil War the local gentry were increasingly resident & intermarried. As JPs they were burdened by administrative duties & conscious of County solidarity & grievances. The Court was seen as extravagant, drunken, promiscuous, homosexual & Popish Stone1972 pp 105-7. The gentry, with their conservative taste for Jacobean architecture & portrait painting, disliked the new-fangled Classicism of Inigo-Jones & Van Dyke’s courtly continental portraits Stone1972 p106.
[After the Restoration social division remained, though now of a somewhat different type.] A profound cleavage developed between fashionable London society led by the Court together with super-loyal Anglicans, & a broad but heterogeneous opposition. This consisted of the trading & merchant classes centred on London & former Puritan squires & landowners who, together with many in the trading classes, now became Anglicans in order to preserve their political & social status Trevelyan1902 pp 279, 285, 287. In the towns non-conformism varied in extent from place to place & from one period to another. However in most largish towns offences against the repressive Clarendon Code were frequently disregarded & juries sometimes refused to commit Ogg1934 p20. In the Cavalier Parliament, which was elected in a frenzy of loyalty, opposition initially centred on the king’s ministers (Clarendon & the Cabal), but by 1673 the crypto-Catholic Charles II & his loyal Anglican supporters faced serious opposition. This before long, & by a convoluted process, united to form the Country cum Whig party. It embraced Shaftesbury & other dissident aristocrats, the conforming gentry, City & other merchants, & Dissenters. Its aim was to wrest power from the Crown, prevent James from succeeding, & establish toleration for Protestant dissenters Trevelyan1902 especially pp 301, 311-6, 323-5, ClarkG pp 81-2, 101-3.
[The continuing division between Country & Court plus a section of the aristocracy meant that painting continued, with to be viewed with suspicion except of course for portraiture. Despite the Restoration the puritan spirit remained strong.] For many years the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, was the only London theatre in continued existence; & there were no fixed theatres in the provinces. The London theatre was dependent on the patronage of the fashionable classes &, after the Wycherley period of bawdy drama, pious & decent-minded families were hostile to the theatre Trevelyan1942 pp 261. In Pilgrim’s Progress, 1678, John Bunyan castigated Vanity Fair with its plays, games & “pleasures & delights of all sorts” Bunyan pp 78-9.
Painters, excluding temporary residents: Francis Barlow; Mary Beale; Edward Bower; Emanuel de Critz; William Dobson; Fuller; Gascars; Richard Greenbury; John Greenhill; Huysmans; Gilbert JacksonD; George Jamesone; Cornelius Johnson/Jonson; Ketel; Knyff; T. Leigh; Mytens; Riley; Soest; Henry Stone; Van Dyke; van Somer; John Souch; Robert Streeter the Elder & Younger; Robert Walker; Wissing; Michael Wright Waterhouse1953, W&M
CREMONA:
This is a Lombard city on the Po about 50 miles south east of Milan. In 1334 it was taken over by the Visconti family of Milan & then passed to the Sforza family in 1441. Their rule saw a rapid increase in artistic commissions. During the 16th century Cremona produced some first rate artists, notably the Campis, the Boccaccinos, Altobello Melone & Sofanisba Anguissola. Their work was distinguished by its openness to influence from elsewhere in Italy (Bologna, Ferrara, the Veneto, Umbria) & from Germany & Flanders. Rich inspiration & brilliant colour characterised Cremonese painting Grove8 p135, L&L
MANTUA:
It is an ancient city in Lombardy about 80 miles south east of Milan & the same distance south west of Venice.
Under the Gonzaga family, 1328-1708, the court attracted great Italian & other painters, including:
Mantegna who was court painter under Lodovico (reigned 1445-78),
Giulio Romano who built & decorated the Gonzaga pleasure house, the Palazzo del Te, under Federico (1519-40),
Rubens under Vincenzo I (1587-1612),
Van Dyke, Fetti & Albani etc worked there under Ferdinando (1612-26)
Under Francesco II & Isabella d’Este (who married in 1490) Mantua became a great centre for collecting & patronage. Romano turned Mantua into a centre of Mannerist art. However, Vincenzo II sold his collection to Charles I in 1628 & there was no important Gonzaga patronage after Mantua was sacked in 1630 OxDicArt pp 211-2
SAN GIMIGNANO:
It was an independent commune with close links to Siena. The chief military & judicial officer, the Podesta, was frequently appointed from a leading Sienese family & Sienese artists were frequently employed on the town hall & the main church. In 1353 Florence took over, but Sienese painters, including Bartolo di Fredi & Taddeo di Bartolo, found employment Norman p3
SEVILLE:
Background:
(a) 16th century: This was a period of high prosperity. Seville was Spain’s largest city & the exclusive port for New World trade with many foreign merchants. However, it was artistically backward with the Church dominating purchasing & enforcing binding, suffocating contracts that favoured conventional compositions. Artists reacted to rock bottom prices by restricting numbers, by guild restrictions, & by mass production of paintings through co-operative ventures & workshops. They also made sales to Spanish America, which had an inexhaustible demand for cheap work. Family dynasties of painters were able to cut costs & foreign artists, previously dominant, were excluded from c1562 (which saw Campana’s departure). Vasco Pereira (1535-1609) was a representative & leading painter. He was an artisan, jack-of-all-trades & held in low regarded Brown pp 99-100, 103;
(b) 17th century: There was a slow decline from the peak prosperity around 1600 with reduced silver arriving from the New World, the silting up of the approach from the sea & the rise of Cadiz. Decline was followed by catastrophe. There was a plague in 1649 which halved the population. This was followed in 1652 by an uprising of the poor & famished Brown p200. There were crop failures in the 1670s with famine in 1678 & a reduced institutional demand for paintings Brown p224
Phases:
1580s-c1625: Painting was a hybrid of Italian & Flemish influences, eg Vazquez, who drew on late northern Mannerism, & Juan del Castlillo Brown pp 100-101, 104.
1625-40: These years saw a revitalised & more naturalistic type of religious painting due to the continuing influence of de Roelas & Velazquez & the Duke of Alcala’s purchase of paintings by de Ribera in the 1630s. The transition from Mannerism to the new naturalism is evident from the career of Francisco Herrera the Elder Brown p131.
1640-60: This period was dominated by the new religiosity of Murillo etc Brown p206.
Painters:
16th century: de Campana/Kempeneer; de Cespedes; de Morales; de Roelas; de Vargas; de Villegas; Alejo Fernandez; Ferdinand Sturmio/Sturm Brown pp 27, 40-1, 44, 100-1, L&L
17th century: Cano; Juan del Castillo; Herrera, the Elder & Younger; Leal; Murillo; Pacheco: Velazquez; Zuberan Brown p104, L&L
SIENA:
Political & Economic Background: In 1147 Siena became a republic. There was a legislative body, the Consiglio della Campagna, & an executive committee. Between 1287 & 1355 this except for one short interval the Council of Nine. It was chosen from the most prosperous & established merchant & banking families. The term of office was only two months but former members went to other government posts. Support was provided for artistic projects at the Palazzo Publico, Duomo & the hospital of Santa Maria della Scala, etc Grove 28 p673, Norman pp 15-6.
Despite endemic class conflict, trade & banking flourished & its territory expanded. However its home-based industries were never developed to the same extent as those in Florence. In 1250 Siena had a population of about 20,000 whereas in Florence it was around 75,000. It aligned itself with the pro-Imperial (Ghibeline) faction in Italy in opposition to the pro-papal (Guelph) party. Siena defeated Florence at the battle of Monteaperti in 1260 but this led to its excommunication & the loss of papal custom & other banking business. Some rich merchants went over the papal party & after Siena’s defeat at Colle Val d’Elsa in 1269 a pro-papal government took power. Siena, which now had a friendly relationship with Florence, entered its most prosperous & best-governed period Norman p12, Grove28 p673.
During the 14th century there were wars, famine (1326), plague (1348), & class conflict. The population of around 50,000 appears to have been halved. Immigration from the surrounding countryside led to political instability. The Nine were overthrown, political regimes rapidly changed & their social composition became more varied Norman p16.
Art: From the second half of the 13th century Siena was one of the most important artistic centres in Europe. During the 14th century its stature was equal or superior to that of Florence because of Duccio, Simone Martini & Lorenzetti Murrays1963 pp 118-9. It has been powerfully argued (Millard Meiss) that economic growth & prosperity fostered artistic development in both Siena & Florence but that in the latter half of the 14th century social & economic dislocation led to a decline in the level of artistic activity & a change in style. This view has been challenged but it is clear that during the 15th century Siena fell behind. The work of Domenico di Bartolo reflects that of Massacio, Donatello & Fra Filippo Lippi. Sassetta & Giovanni di Paolo adopted Florentine perspective Murrays1963 pp 118-9, Norman p17.
The conventional view is that Sienese art is characterized by line, colour, pattern & lyricism whereas that of Florence features space, three-dimensionality, volume & structure Norman1 p2
Leading painters (up to about 1650):
13th century: Guido da Siena, Di Marcovaldo, Duccio L&L
14th century: Barna da Siena, Bartolo di Fredi, Ambrogio & Pietro Lorenzetti, Simone Martini, Ugolino L&L
15th century: Beccafumi, Tadeo & Domenico di Bartolo, Giovanni, Sassetta, Vechietta L&L
16th century: Sodoma L&L
URBINO:
It is an Italian hilltop city in the Marches which was ruled until 1508 by the ducal Montefeltro family, notably by Federico (1444-82) & his son Guidobaldo (1482-1508). He was succeeded by his nephew Francesco Maria della Rovere until 1631, when the papacy took over. Urbino was a cultural centre. Federico & Guidobaldo employed Piero della Franchesca, Uccello, Signorelli, van Ghent, & Pedro Berrughete Grove 31 pp 739-41, L&L. Castiglione, who was in court service from 1504, began Il Libro del Cortegiano, & became friends with Bembo Grove6 pp 38-9
VERONA:
The town is at the point of intersection of north-south & east-west roads. Hence it was open to cultural influences of Venice Lombardy & the region north of the Alps. Stefano da Verona brought about a major synthesis of the different trends in International Gothic; & Pisanello, who had come under an extensive range of influences & was the foremost artist in the movement, worked as a peripatetic artist at princely courts throughout Italy Eorsi pp42-3, L&L. The Veronese school of the 15th to 16th centuries was rich in landscape & portrait painters Michelin. From about 1405 Verona was controlled by Venice, & except for imperial rule during 1509-16, remained so until 1797 Grove 32 p341.
Leading painters: Altichero, Avanzo, Brusasorci, Girolamo de Libri, Liberale & Stefano da Verona, Domenico & Francesco Morone L&L, Grove22 p130, Michelin