Barna da Siena, also known as Berna di Siena, was presumed to be a Sienese painter active from about 1330 to 1350. The painter was first referred to by

Lorenzo Ghiberti Lorenzo Ghiberti (, , ; 1378 – 1 December 1455), born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence, a key figure in the Early Renaissance, best known as the creator of two sets of bronze doors of the Florence Baptiste ...

in his ''I Commentarii'' (mid 15th century) as a Sienese painter who painted several works in Tuscany, including many stories from the Old Testament in

San Gimignano San Gimignano () is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. Known as the Town of Fine Towers, San Gimignano is famous for its medieval architecture, unique in the preservation of about a dozen of ...

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculpt ...

referred in the first edition of his ''

Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'' ( it, Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architettori), often simply known as ''The Lives'' ( it, Le Vite), is a series of artist biographies written by 16th-ce ...

'' (1550) to the Sienese painter ‘Berna’ who was responsible for frescos of

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

scenes in the

Collegiata di San Gimignano The Collegiata di Santa Maria Assunta or Duomo di San Gimignano is a Roman Catholic collegiate church and minor basilica in San Gimignano, in Tuscany in central Italy. It contains important cycles of Renaissance frescoes by artists including Domen ...

. In the second edition of the ''Vite'' (1568) Vasari only connected the artist with the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christi ...

scenes in that church, dating them to the very end of Barna’s life, apparently to 1381. Because of the wide variations in style and quality in the New Testament paintings in San Gimignano it is believed that they were the work of three or four distinct painters. It is further believed that Vasari's dating of the New Testament scenes was incorrect as on stylistic grounds they should be dated to the period 1330-1340s. Because of these problems with the identification of the artist a majority of scholars now believe that ‘Barna’ is a historical fiction. This conclusion has generated various theories on the authorship of the San Gimignano frescoes. The view is that the Collegiata frescoes and other panel paintings attributed to the artist are all closely linked to the work of followers of

Simone Martini Simone Martini ( – 1344) was an Italian painter born in Siena. He was a major figure in the development of early Italian painting and greatly influenced the development of the International Gothic style. It is thought that Martini was a pupil ...

and the circle of

Lippo Memmi Lippo Memmi (c. 1291 – 1356) was an Italian painter from Siena. He was the foremost follower of Simone Martini, who was his brother-in-law. Together with Martini, in 1333 he painted what is regarded as one of the masterworks of the Interna ...

.H. B. J. Maginnis. " Barna." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 25 Feb. 2016

Life

Because of a lack of signed works Barna has been credited as the master of the Collegiata di San Gimignano. It is believed that his pupil Giovanni d'Asciano assisted him on the frescoes and finished the left-over portions after Barna reportedly fell from a scaffolding and died supposedly at a young age. It is suggested, based on the works of biographer Giorgio Vasari, that the master working in the Collegiata di San Gimignano was named Bernardo Bertini. Bernardo was notably taken prisoner in 1335 during a skirmish with the Luccans. He later went to Siena and studied in Simone Martini's workshop. Documents show that in 1355 he was either absent from Siena or dead. This supports the notion that Barna, the master of San Gimignano, died fairly young, somewhere around 1360. When captured in 1335 it was noted that he was just a lad. If he was born shortly before 1320 and died somewhere before 1360 then he could not have been older than forty before his death.

Style of work

Though not much is certain about Barna's life, his work is very distinct. He is known for his dramatically expressive figures and using a more close-in composition than his predecessors. His version of The Raising of Lazarus, for example displays far fewer figures than Duccio's version and there is much more emphasis on each subject's emotions and actions. Their expressions are much more dramatic and there is a sense of human-ness that isn't seen in the work of Sienese painters before him. Barna seemingly ignores the Gothic formulae exemplified by Simone Martini and his disciples. Instead his figures feature a sense of volume and emotionalism, reminiscent of Lorenzetti and other Florentine painters, further strengthening the claim that Barna was not a native of Siena, but more likely hailed from Florence.

References

Sources

* Cecchi, Emilio, ''Sienese Painters of the Trecento'', London, F. Warne, 1931. * Ghiberti, Lorenzo, ''Lorenzo Ghiberti, I commentarii, Biblioteca nazionale centrale di Firenze'', Firenze, Giunti, 1998. * Vasari, Giorgio, ''Le Vite delle più eccellenti pittori, scultori, ed architettori'', many editions and translations.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barna Da Siena Trecento painters 14th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Tuscany Year of death unknown Painters from Siena Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in Italy Year of birth unknown Gothic painters Catholic painters

Life

Style of work

References

Sources

Further reading

External links