Siena

 Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300 ‒1350

Siena Cathedral

The National Gallery in London is currently inviting us to:

Step into Siena. It’s the beginning of the 14th century in central Italy. A golden moment for art, a catalyst of change. Artists Duccio, Simone Martini and the brothers Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti are forging a new way of painting.....

Il Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

And it is a stunning exhibition:

Duccio:  The Virgin and Child Enthroned with Angels

Little is known about Duccio di Buoninsegna, the greatest painter of the Sienese school, who was active from 1278 to 1318. His masterpiece is the Maestà, a double-sided altarpiece created between 1308 and 1311.  

The whole piece was about five metres high and five metres wide and it has a wide central panel with the Virgin and Child adored by the patrons of Siena and surrounded by saints and angels, all created with tempera and gold leaf. The main panel and the bulk of the narrative scenes are now in the Museo dell’Opera Metropolitana, Piazza del Duomo, Siena.

Duccio was probably assisted in this work by his pupil Simone Martini (c 1284 - 1344) who did several frescos in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena, among other works, and Pietro Lorenzetti, who painted this Polyptych in 1320:

And his brother Ambrogio, who painted this Annunciation in 1344, with Gabriel and Mary's words tooled into the gold leaf:

The exhibition has been organised by the National Gallery and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and contains over a hundred exhibits made by artisans working in Siena, Naples, Avignon and beyond, and is open until the 22nd of June.

The Marriage of the Virgin 
Niccolò di Buonaccorso (active 1355 - 1388)

So, with minds full of golds and blues, we leave the exhibition and walk out along the avenue at Middelharnis....

The Avenue at Middelharnis - Meindert Hobbema (1689)

Into Hyde park, where the blue pedalos are out on the Serpentine:

Homeward 2020 - Arpita Singh

Under the blues and golds of the Serpentine Pavilion 2025,

A Capsule in Time
Marina Tabassum

And in the Serpentine South Gallery in Kensington Gardens, Giuseppe Penone  is showing Thoughts in the Roots, with a golden  representation of a respiratory system in a room lined with laurel leaves.  More Italy; more gold....

Respirare L'Ombra (To Breathe the Shadow)
Giuseppe Penone (Garessio, Italy, 1947 - )

While outside, we walk by three life-size bronze trees, one of them shattered by lightning to reveal its golden heart:

Albero folgorato (Thunderstruck Tree) 2012
Giuseppe Penone

The sun begins to slip away, golden against the lapis lazuli blue of sky and Serpentine, Sienese colours at their best,

And Albert sits quietly under his angels, golden against the fading blue,

The Albert Memorial

I take refuge in my lodging, which glows with gold,

To dream of darkling Siena in my golden slumber.

San Domenico, Siena

Inside this northern summer's fold

The fields are full of naked gold,

Broadcast from heaven on lands it loves;

The green veiled air is full of doves;

Soft leaves that sift the sunbeams let

Light on the small warm grasses wet

Fall in short broken kisses sweet,

And break again like waves that beat

Round the sun's feet.

Algernon Charles Swinburne

Siena

A Group of Four Poor Clares
Ambrogio Lorenzetti (c 1325)

My favourite place; I look forward to returning:

Il Duomo di Siena