December 10 - A History of Art - Ambrogio Lorenzetti Effects of Good Government

Ambrogio Lorenzetti(1313-1348) was a Sienese painter and the younger brother of the artist of Pietro, who may have been his teacher. His style owes much to the realism of Giotto(1267-1337).Lorenzetti painted rounded figurines and showed a regard for space and depth, although the scale of the background is not always accurate. Interestingly, in the early 15th century, architect Filippo Brunelleschi (1337-1446) worked out the mathematical rules of perspective, pictures were composed by eye alone.

The pair of frescoes which show The Allegory of Good and Bad Government was commissioned as a piece of civic propaganda fo the Sala dei Nove in the Palazzo Pubblico, Siena. Both works were extraordinary at the time for showing a contemporary panorama of a real place with real people.

Effects of Good Life

Effects of Bad Life

The Effects of Good Government shows Siena as a place of peace and prosperity, with evidence of commerce, active building, agriculture, and industry. After 1348, there are no further records of either brother being active and it is thought that they both perished from the Black Death.