Testo in inglese.

 

Simone Martini (c. 1284 - 1344) was even in his own day regarded as an outstanding artist. Ghiberti records that the Sienese Called him quite simply "the best", and he was for twenty years the principal painter for the city. His work was also sought after by kings and cardinals at the courts of Naples and Avignon. 

Today his formidable technical accomplishment is no less appreciated. Indeed, paintings which were once hidded from wiew in the enclosed choirs of religious houses or in the private collections of rich patrons are, in the majority of cases, now in public galleries.

Most are accessible; much is still puzzling. The enomous richness of invention, the variety of the commissions, the unexpectedness of the painter's response, the dignity, the pathos, the humor of the image - all serve to set Simone apart from his professional contemporaries and give his carrer an entirely individual interest.

Professor martindale examines in detail the historical background to that career, analysing each work in turn and looking at the circumstances surrounding its creation. he sums up much existing research, and offers new interpretations of old problems and views one more recent ones. A complete catalogue both of the surviving works and of the lost works is included. The result is a comprehensive view of one the major painters of medieval Europe.