1. Home
  2. Education
  3. Art History

Artists in 60 Seconds: Duccio (di Buoninsegna)

By Shelley Esaak, About.com

Public Domain image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons; GNU Free Documentation License

Duccio di Buoninsegna (Italian, ca. 1255/60-? 1319). Maestą, Madonna with Angels and Saints (detail), ca. 1308-11. Tempera on wood. 214 x 412 cm (84 1/4 x 162 1/4 in.).

Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Siena
Movement, Style, School or Type of Art:

Proto-Renaissance; "Father" of the Sienese School

Date and Place of Birth:

Both are unknown. Though we've seen "ca. 1255," "ca. 1260," "ca. 1255/60" and "probably Siena," the first recorded mention we have of Duccio is that he had a painting commission for the Commune of Siena in 1278.

Life:

Frustrating, to have so little factual evidence on the first great Sienese artist. Only a few works attributed to Duccio are universally accepted as being his, and every attempt at dating these is an educated guess. None of which detracts from Duccio's innovative use of narrative composition, color and gilding, or for summing up the Byzantine style so splendidly. His huge masterpiece, Maestà, was unequaled, and his influence on Italian Renaissance painting lasted well into the 15th-century.

Important Works:

    Madonna and Child (a.k.a. "the Stroganoff Madonna"; ca. 1300-05)

Date and Place of Death:

Siena, sometime prior to October of 1319. Duccio may have passed on in 1318 for all we know, but the aforementioned date is that of court documents reporting that his seven children relinquished claims to his inheritance, in favor of their widowed mother.

Recommended Books About Duccio:

See more resources on Duccio by following the links at right

Go to Artist Profiles: Names beginning with "D" or Artist Profiles: Main Index

Explore Art History

More from About.com

  1. Home
  2. Education
  3. Art History
  4. Artists A to Z
  5. Artists From A to Z
  6. Names Beginning With D
  7. Duccio Bio - Italian Proto-Renaissance Painter Duccio di Buoninsegna

©2008 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.