Artist #2: Simone Martini

I heart Simone Martini.


I first learned about him in Italian Renaissance this last semester and I am so happy I was able to learn about him because his work is so very pretty! I'd say my favorite piece of that entire semester was "The Annunciation" (1333)





A bit about Simone Martini, he was a Sienese painter, lived during the Italian Renaissance, and was the pupil of Duccio.





What I love about this fresco, aside from everything, is, for one, his figures. The seemingly elongated figures seem so elegant and fragile, and his use of the "S curve" adds to that effect ten fold. I probably won't be able to use the words "elegant, beautiful, and divine" enough in this post, because "The Annunciation" screams those descriptions so much that it makes blood shoot from my eyes, but that's aside the point. The gold background makes this piece shine like it is a piece directly sent from Heaven as it depicts the Arch Angel Gabriel giving Mary the news that she is to be the mother of the Savior. However, it gives a possibly realistic view of how the Virgin Mary would have reacted to such news, with a bit of fear and hesitation.





Another thing I adore about this piece is the clothing. Each piece of clothing seems so elegant, and I know from class that Gabriel's clothes' pattern is based off of actual cloth from that time period! Aside from the melding of current (current as in 1300's) and traditional clothes from the time of the Annunciation, I believe, is incrediby clever. Also, the folds that he painted, to me at least, seem pretty accurate as how clothing folds, I like his use of lights and darks, just enough to give it a believable quality. Finally for clothing, I love how they fit the Virgin. Her clothes make her look very beautiful, tall, and slim. The dark blue of her cloak against the bright gold of the background really makes her stand out. And the unshiney appearance of the figures against the shiney gold really gives this piece an interesting look.





Finally, the altar piece itself is exquisite!!! All of those beautiful details on the edges and around the figures is one of my favorite things about this piece, it's so detailed.

(Also, for Prof Harris, I made the font bigger, although it doesn't appear to have changed when I view my blog, it might look different on yours for some reason because both posts seem to have decently big font to me, let me know if this one is too small though cuz I changed the font to large instead of normal!)