Simone Martini

Simone di Martino

Sienese, active from 1315; died 1344

Explore Selected Works

A winged, blond angel kneels facing our right in profile wearing a gold garment, and is shown against a gold background in this vertical painting. The textured robe the angel wears is a similar color to the background, and with the golden hair and wings, the painting is almost entirely gold. The angel’s pale skin has a greenish cast but the cheeks are rosy. Blond hair curls around the face and falls over the shoulders. The angel looks to our right with slitted eyes over a long, straight nose, and pale pink lips are closed. The hand farther from us is drawn across the chest and tucked under the arm closer to us, with which the angel holds a tall leafy palm frond. The inside surface of the wing facing us deepens from butter yellow to tangerine orange, and the other side of the wings are lapiz blue. The robe is textured with gold swirls against slate blue for the shadows and rose pink on the sleeves. A gold halo encircles the angel’s head and the gold background is textured with an ornate decorative border along the inner of edges of the top and both sides. The floor beneath the angel is ruby red. The gilding has worn away in some areas, especially in the background, so the red layer beneath is visible through cracks.
Simone Martini, The Angel of the Annunciation, c. 1330, tempera on poplar panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1939.1.216

The Angel of the Annunciation

Simone Martini · c. 1330 · tempera on poplar panel ·  Accession ID  1939.1.216

Simone Martini, Saint Judas Thaddeus, c. 1315/1320, tempera on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.26

Saint Judas Thaddeus

Simone Martini · c. 1315/1320 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.5.26

Simone Martini, Saint Matthew, c. 1315/1320, tempera on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.23

Saint Matthew

Simone Martini · c. 1315/1320 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.5.23

Simone Martini, Saint Simon, c. 1315/1320, tempera on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.24

Saint Simon

Simone Martini · c. 1315/1320 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.5.24

Shown from the waist up, a pale-skinned, bearded man faces us against a shiny gold background on this arched, vertical panel. The wooden panel is rounded at the top and has a wooden frame, which is painted gold along the bottom. The man’s skin has a greenish cast, but his cheeks and forehead are rosy. He has wavy, honey-brown hair and a long, forked beard. With his head tilted slightly to our right, the man looks up and off in that direction with gray eyes. He has a narrow, straight nose, a thin pink mouth, and small ears. He holds a red book in front of his chest with his right hand, to our left. The book has brown hinges, and the edges of the pages are gold. In his other hand, he grasps a wooden staff tied at the top with a small, black, square flag displaying a petal-pink scallop shell. His harvest-yellow cloak drapes over his shoulders, across his body, and over his left arm. Under the cloak, he wears a black tunic with wide gold trim patterned with starburst-like forms within pointed ovals along the neckline and sleeves. A double ringed halo punched with a flower pattern surrounds the man’s head against the glimmering gold background. There is a noticeable network of cracks across the painting's surface, especially on the gold background behind the man. Inscriptions next to his shoulders read “SATVS” on our left and “YACOBVS” on our right.
Simone Martini, Saint James Major, c. 1315/1320, tempera on panel, Samuel H. Kress Collection, 1952.5.25

Saint James Major

Simone Martini · c. 1315/1320 · tempera on panel ·  Accession ID  1952.5.25

Bibliography

1936

  • Rinaldis, Aldo de. Simone Martini. Rome, n. d. [1936].

1955

  • Paccagnini, Giovanni. Simone Martini. Milan, 1955.

1966

  • Vasari, Giorgio. La vite dei più eccellenti pittori, scultori e architettori nelle redazioni del 1550 e 1568. Edited by Rosanna Bettarini and Paolo Barocchi. 8 vols. Florence, 1966-1987: 2(1967):191-200.

1970

  • Contini, Gianfranco, and Maria Cristina Gozzoli. L’opera completa di Simone Martini. Milan, 1970.

1988

  • Bellosi, Luciano, ed. Simone Martini: atti del convegno; Siena, 27–29 marzo 1985. Florence, 1988.

  • Martindale, Andrew. Simone Martini. Oxford, 1988.

1999

  • Bagnoli, Alessandro. La Maestà di Simone Martini. Milan, 1999.

2000

  • Pierini, Marco. Simone Martini. Milan, 2000.

2003

  • Leone De Castris, Pierluigi. Simone Martini. Milan, 2003.

2007

  • Boskovits, Miklós. “Da Duccio a Simone Martini.” In Medioevo: la chiesa e il palazzo. Atti del convegno internazionale di studi, Parma, 20 – 24 settembre 2005. Edited by Arturo Carlo Quintavalle. Milan, 2007: 565-582.

2016

  • Boskovits, Miklós. Italian Paintings of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2016: 349-350.