See the breathtaking 14th-century Sienese works of art that sparked the Italian Renaissance

A new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City is packed with opulent religious panel paintings, altarpieces, sculptures, textiles and metalwork from the Italian city of Siena.

Titled “Siena: the rise of painting, 1300-1350”, the show features more than 100 works of art created just before the Italian Renaissance flourished. It is the first major exhibition in the United States devoted exclusively to early Sienese works of art.

“This monumental exhibition brings together the most important group of early Sienese paintings ever collected outside Siena – offering a unique opportunity to explore the influence of this extraordinary artistic centre,” says Max Holleinthe director of the Met, in a statement.

While many consider Florence to be the creative impetus of early Renaissance art, the new exhibition makes a strong argument for Siena’s integral role. It is mainly focused on the famous Sienese artist Duccio di Buoninsegna and three younger painters: Simone Martini and the brothers Pietro And Ambrogio Lorenzetti.

Between 1308 and 1311, Duccio and his workshop created the Maesta (or Majesty), an impressive work of art measuring 16 by 15 feet created for the high altar of the Cathedral of Siena. Many years later it was divided into pieces and distributed all over the world. The new exhibition brings together eight of the nine back panels for the first time in centuries.

“By combining Byzantine bling with Renaissance naturalism and depicting, like film stills from a Biblical biopic, episodes from the life of Jesus, the panels illustrate a tradition of vibrant narrative painting that became a Sienese specialty,” writes art critic Holland Cotter for the New York Times.

Art historians believe that Duccio may have trained some of the three younger painters. The exhibition focuses on these artists’ different approaches to storytelling, featuring both “monumental works and detailed narrative scenes on a smaller scale,” according to the museum.

The works of the Sienese artists may not be as technically advanced as the Renaissance paintings that appeared later, but it is instructive to view them side by side: in a review Artnet‘S Ben Davis calls the Sienese pieces “the raw broth from which the pure flavors of the High Renaissance were reduced.”

“In paintings, multiple incidents and time periods coexist on one plane,” he writes. “Halos float in an underworld between realistic illusion and flat gold geometry. Anatomy is approximate, not scientific. You can understand why the various forms of optical perspective that appeared on the scene a century later looked so illuminatingly daring.”

The show ends in 1350, around the time the Black Death swept through Siena. The plague eventually wiped out about half the city’s population and devastated the art scene. Duccio had died years earlier, and Martini died just before the disease struck; both Lorenzetti brothers died from the plague.

The new exhibition focuses on the short period of time before the Black Death took hold. It highlights not only the beauty of these rare religious paintings, but also their importance in the canon of art history.

“Sienese painting represents a break in world art, a break with Gothic flatness and hieratic Byzantine art,” writes art critic Jerry Saltz Vulture. “In Siena a new wealth of detail appears, the space takes on character, figures fill out, paint becomes fleshy and color, especially a range of blue shades, is released. This explosion of innovation led to Flemish, Dutch and Northern painting.”

But even “in the midst of so many revolutionary changes,” he adds, “what one feels in the presence of Sienese painting is something restorative and healing.”

“Siena: the rise of painting, 1300-1350‘ is on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art until January 26, 2025.