Page 6 - Christie's Collecting Guide to Gold-Ground Paintings

The artists to know: from Cimabue to Daddi

These painters were considered on a par with craftsmen, rather than the free-thinking,
independent artists whose names began to emerge in the Renaissance. As a result, their
identities were often unrecorded.

That’s not to say they weren’t handsomely rewarded. In 1308, when a low-skilled manual
labourer would earn around 20 to 25 florins a year, the city of Siena paid Duccio di
Buoninsegna 3,000 florins to create the Maestà, the altarpiece for its cathedral.

Today, anonymous artists’ works are grouped by scholars on stylistic qualities such as the
treatment of hair and hands, or how they render the folds of drapery. They are then given a
name referencing a notable work — often a fresco cycle on the walls of a church — such as
‘the Master of the Baptistery of Parma’.

Bernardo Daddi (active circa 1318-1348), Saints Lucy and Catherine of Alexandria — a
predella panel from the S. Giorgio a Ruballa Altarpiece. Tempera and gold on panel. 8¼
x 15¼ in (21 x 38.8 cm). Sold for $529,200 on 9 June 2022 at Christie’s in New York
However, some of the most influential painters’ names were recorded. The forefather of the
gold-ground tradition in Italy is the Florentine Cimabue (c. 1240-1302). After him came
Duccio di Buoninsegna (c.1255-1260-c.1318-1319) and Giotto di Bondone (c. 1267-1337),
who worked in Florence and was Ciambue’s pupil.

Duccio’s heirs in Siena were the Lorenzetti brothers, Pietro (c. 1280-1348) and Ambrogio (c.
1290-1348), and Simone Martini (c. 1284-1344). In Florence, Giotto’s heirs were Andrea di
Cione di Orcagna (c. 1308-1368) and Bernardo Daddi (c. 1280-1348).

Many of the masterpieces of gold-ground painting were made by these eight artists.