Guido da Siena ( Italian: Guido da Siena ) is an Italian artist who worked in Siena between 1260 and 1290 . Siena School .
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Guido da Siena is traditionally considered, if not the founding father of the whole Siena school of painting, then at least one of the two fathers (the second is considered to be Coppo di Markovaldo ). For decades, discussions around his figure have not abated. The only work on which he has his signature is “The Maesta” (that is, the solemn Madonna and Child with the throne) from the church of San Domenico (now in the Palazzo Pubblico , Siena), but even around this picture there has been controversy for many years. The fact is that in addition to the signature "Guido de Senis", it has a date - 1221, but the faces of the Madonna and baby are written in the manner of the second half of the 13th century, close to Cimabue . At the beginning of the 13th century, faces were painted differently, more primitively. The opinions of experts were divided. Some believed that this was really the work of 1221, but the faces were rewritten in the 14th century by Ugolino di Nerio . Others believed that someone deliberately recorded the previous real date, but an X-ray study did not confirm this point of view. Still others suggest that this icon was rewritten from an older sample in order to replace it (in an improved form), supposedly numbers were also transferred from it. One way or another, but this gigantic work, 2.83 x 1.94 meters in size, has become that point of reference from which experts began to try to recreate the work of Guido da Siena.
Guido da Siena's artistic activity took place during that period in Siena history, when, after the Battle of Montaerti , which took place on September 4, 1260, in which the Siena dobellis defeated the Florentine supporters of the pope, the Guelphs , the cult of the Madonna began to grow in Siena. In retaliation for the defeat, the Pope excommunicated Siena from the church on November 18, 1260. It was very important for religious Sienans that, despite this, the Madonna still stood on the side of the Siena commune. Partly for the affirmation of this (and partly in spite of the popes) the image of the Madonna from a purely religious began to transform into a political image. The Byzantine icon “Our Lady of Hodegetria ” served as a prototype of this new manner of depicting the Madonna, but the Sienans recreated her image in her own way. On the “Madonna del Bordone” (1261 Ts. Santa Maria dei Servi), written by Coppo di Marcovaldo , you can see a quite secular outfit, similar to the attire of the queens, although written in the icon-painting tradition, and royal eagles (royal eagles are also present on Guido's Maesta, they adorn the fabric on the back of the throne - a motif borrowed from Coppo). From the image of a spiritual defender, Madonna was transformed into the image of a republican mistress, and her royal status and power over the city began to be emphasized by the presence of a retinue of four holy patrons (the idea was also clearly borrowed from the Byzantine iconostasis). That is how the Madonna appears in the work of Guido da Siena “Madonna and Saints” (c. 1270, Siena, Pinacoteca). In the future, the royal retinue of the Madonna grew more and more, at Duccio she was already 40 people.
The “ Maesta ” of Guido da Siena, in all likelihood, was not a separate image, but it was a triptych. Experts suggest that on the sides of the Madonna were images of saints. The reason for this version is that the triangular top of this icon depicting the blessing Christ and two angels was stored elsewhere, in the Benedictine monastery of Siena, that is, in all probability, the altar that was demolished.
About the life of Guido da Siena, almost nothing is known. Art historians designate the circle of artists from whom he could study, but this circle is diverse - from Bonaventure Berlingieri to Dietisalvi di Speme . In addition to the two works mentioned here, Guido is credited with the “Madonna and Child” from the Siena Pinacoteca and several small works with images of gospel scenes from various museums, whose ownership is sometimes disputed by Guido da Siena.
The work of Guido da Siena had a significant impact on the development of the Siena painting of the late XIII - early XIV centuries.
Literature
- The art of the Italian Renaissance. Edited by Rolf Thoman. Konemann 2000.
- Diana Norman. Siena and the Virgin. Art and Politics in a Late Medieval City State. Yale University Press. 1999.