An exploration of a crucial turning point in Italian art, the early 1300s in the city of Siena
 
“This is a book to be savored and treasured, much like the objects it celebrates.”—Ann Landi, Wall Street Journal
 
In the early 1300s, the city of Siena gave rise to an extraordinary period of creativity and innovation. Painters, sculptors, and goldsmiths produced remarkable works whose impact was felt far beyond the city’s walls. From vast altarpieces to portable objects for private devotion, the art emanating from Siena left an enduring legacy.
 
This book explores a crucial turning point in Italian art when the prestige of painting reached new heights. Siena became the centre of a rich exchange of ideas, as painters took inspiration from marble and ivory sculptures, intricate metalwork, and precious imported silks to enhance the power of their work. Travelling beyond their native city, Sienese artists made their mark across Italy and into northern Europe.

Beautifully illustrated and featuring important new scholarship, chapters explore masterpieces by four of Siena’s most illustrious painters—Duccio, Simone Martini, and Ambrogio and Pietro Lorenzetti—alongside objects in other media and from other countries and cultures, encouraging fresh perspectives and dialogues between these groundbreaking works.
 
Published by National Gallery Global/Distributed by Yale University Press

“This is a book to be savored and treasured, much like the objects it celebrates.”—Ann Landi, Wall Street Journal, “Holiday Gift Books: Fine Art”

An Engelsberg Ideas Book of the Year 2025

“Magnificent.”—Jaspreet Singh Boparai, Engelsberg Ideas

“The exhibition Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–1350 at the National Gallery in London [is] one of the most glorious displays of art ever seen in this country. This book matches it in the splendour of its production and the clarity of its design. It consists of shortish essays that combine expertise with lucid writing. The works of art it covers are reproduced to such a high standard that the discussion can be followed with an appreciation of the beauty of the originals.”—Robin Simon, Literary Review

Joanna Cannon specialises in the art and architecture of Italy in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. She is professor emerita at the Courtauld Insitute of Art, London.