Jackson Arn on the first major exhibition of trecento Sienese art in America, and on the works of Duccio di Buoninsegna, Simone Martini, and Ambrogio Lorenzetti.
The Met’s new show about what happens next, “Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300-1350,” makes clear how astonishing it is that paint, of all things, became the center of Western art. Gold was prettier. Wood was tougher. Textile and ivory, both well represented here, travelled from city to city more freely. Nobody ever looked at an egg yolk, the signature ingredient in tempera, and thought “sublime,” let alone “enduring,” but here we are, seven centuries later.
The pretty toy-shop ones in “The Temptation of Christ on the Mountain” invite thoughts of people trudging through their days, unaware that at any second they could be stomped by the gigantic Devil above. Siena got dramatic irony right, too. That panel, along with several others here, comes from the Maestà, an altarpiece whose dozens of small scenes were pried loose and scattered through collections, or lost.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ed Kranepool, longest-tenured Mets player ever and member of Miracle Mets, dies at 79A native of New York, the first baseman/outfielder spent 18 seasons with the Mets, hitting .261 over 1,853 regular-season games. He was an All-Star in 1965.
Read more »
Ed Kranepool, longest-tenured Mets player ever and member of Miracle Mets, dies at 79A native of New York, the first baseman/outfielder spent 18 seasons with the Mets, hitting .261 over 1,853 regular-season games. He was an All-Star in 1965.
Read more »
Ed Kranepool, longest-tenured Mets player ever and member of Miracle Mets, dies at 79A native of New York, the first baseman/outfielder spent 18 seasons with the Mets, hitting .261 over 1,853 regular-season games. He was an All-Star in 1965.
Read more »
Ed Kranepool, longest-tenured Mets player ever and member of Miracle Mets, dies at 79A native of New York, the first baseman/outfielder spent 18 seasons with the Mets, hitting .261 over 1,853 regular-season games. He was an All-Star in 1965.
Read more »
Mets' David Peterson implodes in ugly first postseason blemishThe Mets’ Plan A failed before the Mets’ Plan B did not encourage.
Read more »
Luisangel Acuna's rise helping Mets weather Francisco Lindor injuryKirk A.
Read more »