Pietro Lorenzetti (fl. 1305-50) was probably a pupil of Duccio, and
was influenced by Simone Martini, but Pietro and his younger brother,
Ambrogio Lorenzetti (1285?-1348?), who represented a new movement and
endeavoured to set forth the civic ideal, are not represented in this
collection.
Simone Martini’s brother-in-law, Lippo Memmi (died 1357?), is possibly
the author of the _St. Peter_ (No. 1152), a poor picture which is
officially assigned to Taddeo di Bartolo (1362?-1422). The art of
the latter is, in the opinion of Mr. Berenson, seen in the small
_Crucifixion_ (No. 1622), which the Louvre authorities modestly
catalogue as being by an unknown fourteenth-century Italian painter.
To Bartolo di Maestro Fredi (1330?-1410), who came under the influence
of Lippo Memmi and the Lorenzetti, is given a _Presentation in the
Temple_ (No. 1151). Paolo di Giovanni Fei (fl. 1372-1410), whose
pictures are rarely met with out of Italy, may be regarded as the
author of the _Madonna and Saints_ (No. 1314) which is officially held
to be by an unknown Florentine painter of the school of Giotto. The
Louvre possesses no example of the art of Sassetta (1392-1450), who,
together with Paolo di Giovanni Fei, deeply impressed Giovanni di Paolo
(1403?-1482). The latter may be credited with the small panel (No.
1659A) which is officially entitled _The Entry of Pope Martin into the
Castle of Saint Angelo_, and included in the Catalogue as being by an
unknown Florentine, but labelled “School of Masaccio.” There can be no
doubt that this quaint little picture depicts _Pope Gregory the Great’s
Vision of the Archangel Michael sheathing his Sword over the Castle of
Saint Angelo_. According to the legend, Gregory had been indefatigable
in nursing the plague-stricken in Rome in the sixth century, and while
on his way at the head of a procession to offer up prayer for the
cessation of the plague, saw “the warrior of God” in the attitude here
shown. Gregory, after fleeing from those who wished to make him Pope,
was elected to wear the papal tiara under the title of Gregory the
Great. He is chiefly known to us as having sent missionaries to preach
the gospel in England, having been moved to pity by seeing British
captives exposed for sale in Rome, and for his arrangement of the music
of the chants which are after him known as Gregorians. The official
title of the picture, on the other hand, assumes that we have here Pope
Martin V., a man of saintly character, making his entry into Rome in
1421 amid the acclamations of the people. He had been elected Pope in
1417 on the deposition of John XXIII.
By this time the art of Siena had progressed some distance on the
road that its religious aspirations and technical accomplishments
indicated, but it soon became evident that the more intellectual aims
of Florentine art were shaping the course of all the painters of Italy.