Focus on Annunciation with St. Margaret and St. Ansanus and explain the History.
The painting originally decorated the altar of St. Ansanus in the Cathedral of Siena, and had been commissioned as part of a cycle of four altarpieces dedicated to the city's patrons saints (St. Ansanus, St. Sabinus of Spoleto, St. Crescentius and St. Victor) during 1330–1350. These included the Presentation at the Temple by Ambrogio Lorenzetti (altar of St. Crescentius, 1342), the Nativity of the Virgin by Pietro Lorenzetti (1342, Altar of St. Sabinus), and a Nativity, now disassembled, attributed to Bartolomeo Bulgarini from 1351 (altar of St. Victor). All the paintings should represent stories of the Life of the Madonna, and were crowned by Duccio di Buoninsegna's Maestà. The artists' use of expensive lacquer, extensive gold leafing and the difficult to obtain lapis lazuli in the painting demonstrates the communal prestige of the commission.The date of the painting is specified in a fragment of the original frame, now embedded in the 19th-century renovation. It lists the name of Simone Martini and his brother-in-law Lippo Memmi (symon martini et lippvs memmi de senis me pinxervnt anno domini mcccxxxiii), although it is unknown which parts they executed. A hypothesis is that Martini painted the central panel, while Memmi was responsible for the side saints and the tondoes with prophets in the upper part.The work, in both size and style, has no similarities with any other contemporary painting in Italy. It can be compared instead to French illuminated manuscripts of that time, as well as to paintings from Germany or England. His "northern European" style granted Martini a call from the papal court in Avignon, where there were Italian but no Florentine painters, as the Giottesque classical manner was met with little interest by the Gothic culture of the area.The painting remained in the cathedral until 1799, when Grand Duke Peter Leopold had it moved to Florence in exchange of two canvasses by Luca Giordano. The original frame, carved by Paolo di Camporegio and gilt by Memmi, was renovated in 1420 and replaced by a modern one in the 19th century.
Avignon St. Ansanus Lippo Memmi Luca Giordano Florence St. Sabinus of Spoleto Ansanus Giottesque Maestà St. Crescentius Duccio Sabinus of Spoleto Duccio di Buoninsegna Ambrogio Lorenzetti Simone Martini Italy Nativity of the Virgin Pietro Lorenzetti Bartolomeo Bulgarini Peter Leopold Cathedral of Siena Presentation at the Temple