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'Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300-1350' - Conference

Hear about the remarkable achievements of Siena’s artists and the significance of Sienese painting in the wider world during the late Middle Ages.
Date
Friday, 20 June 2025
Time
9 am - 5.45 pm, doors open at 8.30 am

About

This international conference, hosted onsite and online, will focus on the painters, objects and themes of the National Gallery’s exhibition Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300‒1350, held in collaboration with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Across four sessions, papers will discuss the remarkable achievements of Siena’s artists and the significance of Sienese painting in the wider world during the late Middle Ages.

Downloadable full conference programme forthcoming.

Image: Detail of Simone Martini, Saint Luke (detail), about 1326-30, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Abstract

With papers from some of the leading international scholars of Sienese art, this conference will explore the innovations and impact of the city’s leading painters of the 14th century – Duccio di Buoninsegna, Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti, and Simone Martini. Speakers from the USA, Europe and the UK will present papers offering new insights into the function of paintings made in Siena, their intellectual and devotional contexts, and the reconstruction of dispersed altarpieces. Papers will also consider the connections between Siena and the wider world. In addition, the conference provides the opportunity for new technical research on Duccio’s monumental 'Maestà' to be presented for the first time, alongside other recent findings from scientific investigations of trecento Sienese objects.

Speakers

  • Professor Anne Derbes (Professor Emerita, Hood College)
  • Dominic Ferrante (Robert Simon Fine Art)
  • Dr Vera-Simone Schulz (Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz & Leuphana University Lüneburg)
  • Dr Machtelt Brüggen Israëls (University of Amsterdam)
  • Professor Diana Norman (Professor Emerita, Open University)
  • Dr Carl Strehlke (Emeritus Curator, Philadelphia Museum of Art)
  • Dr Helen Howard (The National Gallery)
  • Dr Jo Dillon (The Fitzwilliam Museum of Art)
  • Dr Lucy Wrapson (Hamilton Kerr Institute)
  • Speakers from the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Florence
  • Professor Jeffrey Hamburger (Harvard University)
  • Professor Sonio Chiodo (Università di Firenze)
  • Dr Elisa Camporeale (Independent Scholar)

Supported by

The exhibition was organised by the National Gallery and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Conferences & seminars

'Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300-1350' - Conference

Hear about the remarkable achievements of Siena’s artists and the significance of Sienese painting in the wider world during the late Middle Ages.
Date
Friday, 20 June 2025
Time
9 am - 5.45 pm, doors open at 8.30 am

Tickets

Standard: £20
Concessions: £12
Students: £12

Please book a ticket to attend this conference, which takes place in the Sainsbury Wing Lecture Theatre (access through the Sainsbury Wing entrance).

If you would prefer to watch the livestream of the conference, please book tickets here.

Bookings close one hour before the event.

Concessions are for full-time students, jobseekers, and disabled adults.