Minor Masters of the End of the XIV Century

Abstract

The painters who flourished at the end of the 14^th century and whose activity extended even into the first years of the 15^th offer us the proof of the persistence of Simone Martini’s influence. Duccio’s models had long since been forgotten, and the Lorenzetti’s abandoned after two generations, but artists like Taddeo Bartolo, Andrea di Bartolo and Martino di Bartolommeo reproduced, in a slightly modernized form, the figures of Simone Martini. All three were very productive artists, but rather monotonous and lacking in inspiration. None of them attained the spiritual grace of Simone’s art, which they followed in a rather commonplace manner. It is obvious that the tradition was handed down to them by artists of the previous generation, such as Andrea Vanni or Bartolo di Fredi, who themselves were only adherents of Simone’s art, but not the master’s contemporaries. One would say, however, that the artists of the end of the 14^th century also worked directly from Simone’s paintings, and this is extremely likely in a city which at that period must have been full of the great master’s productions.