Lorenzetti

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Lorenzetti, Pietro (active 1320–45) and Ambrogio (active 1319–48). Sienese painters, brothers. They were among the outstanding Italian artists of their time, but their lives are poorly documented; it is possible that both died in the Black Death of 1348. Pietro is usually said to have been the elder brother, but the evidence is not conclusive. His first dated work is of 1320—a polyptych of the Virgin and Child with Saints in the Pieve di S. Maria at Arezzo; Ambrogio's earliest reliably attributed work is of a year earlier—a Virgin and Child for a church at Vico l'Abate (Mus. Diocesano, Florence). Apart from collaborating in a cycle on the life of Mary, which they painted in fresco on the façade of Siena's public hospital in 1335 (now lost), the brothers worked independently. They shared a certain affinity of style, however, the weightiness of their figures showing the influence of Giotto and clearly setting them apart from the elegance of their greatest Sienese contemporary, Simone Martini. Ambrogio was the more innovative of the brothers, and his greatest work, the fresco series representing Good and Bad Government in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena (1338–9), is one of the most remarkable achievements in 14th-century Italian art. In it he broke new ground in the naturalistic painting of landscape and townscape, and the talkative crowds of figures show he was an acute observer of his fellow men. Ambrogio's other dated work includes altarpieces of the Presentation in the Temple (1337–42, Uffizi, Florence) and the Annunciation (1344, Pinacoteca, Siena). Pietro's work is noted for its emotional expressiveness, his fresco of the Descent from the Cross in the Lower Church of S. Francesco at Assisi having remarkable pathos and dramatic power. The extent and the date of Pietro's contribution at Assisi are matters of controversy, but his other work includes dated altarpieces of the Virgin and Child Enthroned (1340, Uffizi) and the Birth of the Virgin (1342, Cathedral Mus., Siena).

Lorenzetti, Pietro (active 1320–45) and Ambrogio (active 1319–48). Sienese painters, brothers. They were among the outstanding Italian artists of their time, but their lives are poorly documented—it is possible that both died in the Black Death of 1348. Pietro is usually said to have been the elder brother, but the evidence is not conclusive. His first dated work is of 1320—a polyptych of the Virgin and Child with Saints in the Pieve di S. Maria at Arezzo; Ambrogio's earliest reliably attributed work is of a year earlier—a Virgin and Child for a church at Vico l'Abate (Museo Diocesano, Florence). Apart from collaborating in a cycle on the life of Mary, which they painted in fresco on the façade of Siena's public hospital in 1335 (now lost), the brothers worked independently. They shared a certain affinity of style, however, the weightiness of their figures showing the influence of Giotto and clearly setting them apart from the elegance of their greatest Sienese contemporary, Simone Martini. Ambrogio was the more innovative of the brothers, and his greatest work, the fresco series Good and Bad Government in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena (1338–9), is one of the most remarkable achievements in 14th-century Italian art. In it he broke new ground in the naturalistic painting of landscape and townscape, and the talkative crowds of figures show he was an acute observer of his fellow men. Ambrogio's other dated work includes altarpieces of the Presentation in the Temple (1337–42, Uffizi, Florence) and the Annunciation (1344, Pinacoteca, Siena). Pietro's work is noted for its emotional expressiveness, his fresco of the Descent from the Cross in the Lower Church of S. Francesco at Assisi having remarkable pathos and dramatic power. The extent and the date of Pietro's contribution at Assisi are matters of controversy, but his other work includes dated altarpieces of the Virgin and Child Enthroned (1340, Uffizi) and the Birth of the Virgin (1342, Cathedral Mus., Siena).

Lorenzetti , two brothers who were major Sienese painters. Pietro Lorenzetti, c.1280–c.1348, was first influenced by Duccio di Buoninsegna and Giovanni Pisano. His earliest known work, an altarpiece at Arezzo, already shows the impact of Giotto's style in its concern with profound emotion and simple grandeur of form. In Siena he painted, with his brother, several that have been lost. Pietro's altarpiece (1329) for the Church of the Carmelites is now in the Pinacoteca. His last works are the magnificent Birth of the Virgin (c.1342; Opera del Duomo, Siena) and an altarpiece for the Church of St. Francis at Pistoia (now in the Uffizi). Of uncertain date are the imposing frescoes attributed to Pietro in the Lower Church at Assisi— Virgin and Child with St. Francis and scenes from the Passion.Ambrogio Lorenzetti, d. 1348?, was the more inventive brother. Also influenced by Giotto and Giovanni Pisano, he developed great simplicity of style and a remarkable ability to depict spatial depth. Several times he is recorded as having been in Florence. There he painted an altarpiece for the Church of San Procolo, which includes scenes from the life of St. Nicholas. His greatest achievement is the cycle of frescoes (1337–39) in the Palazzo Pubblico, Siena. It consists of allegories of good and bad government and is a revealing portrayal of Italian life in the 14th cent. The paintings are invaluable for their accuracy of depiction. Other works by Ambrogio are three frescoes depicting the Maestà in Siena, Presentation in the Temple (Uffizi), and Annunciation (Siena Pinacoteca). No records of the brothers appear after 1348; they are believed to have perished in the plague.

Bibliography: See study by G. Rowley (2 vol., 1958).