Bartolomeo Bulgarini ( – 1378), also known as Bulgarino or Bologhini, was an Italian painter of the Trecento period in

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

both before and after the

Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

. Bulgarini's name came into prominence in January 2021, when '' Portrait of a Young Man holding a Roundel'' by

Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), better known as Sandro Botticelli ( ; ) or simply known as Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 1 ...

was sold at Sotheby's for a record 80 million dollars (over 92 million after fees and commission). The roundel has an inset original painting of a bearded man (probably a saint), attributed to Bulgarini.

Early life

Bulgarini was born into a noble family, several of whose members had served in the Council of Nine, Siena’s central governing body. He is firmly in the Sienese school of painting, working in an

Italo-Byzantine Italo-Byzantine is a style term in art history, mostly used for medieval paintings produced in Italy under heavy influence from Byzantine art. It initially covers religious paintings copying or imitating the standard Byzantine icon types, but pa ...

style on a

gold ground Gold ground (both a noun and adjective) or gold-ground (adjective) is a term in art history for a style of images with all or most of the background in a solid gold colour. Historically, real gold leaf has normally been used, giving a luxurious ...

. With his contemporaries,

Simone Martini Simone Martini ( – July 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 p ...

Pietro Lorenzetti Pietro Lorenzetti (; – 1348) or Pietro Laurati was an Italian painter, active between and 1345. Together with his younger brother Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Ambrogio, he introduced Realism (arts), naturalism into Sienese School, Sienese art. In the ...

and

Ambrogio Lorenzetti Ambrogio Lorenzetti (; – after 9 August 1348) was an Italian painter of the Sienese school. He was active from approximately 1317 to 1348. He painted ''The Allegory of Good and Bad Government'' in the Sala dei Nove (Salon of Nine or Council Ro ...

and others he is part of the generation following

Duccio Duccio di Buoninsegna ( , ; – ), commonly known as just Duccio, was an Italian painter active in Siena, Tuscany, in the late 13th and early 14th century. He was hired throughout his life to complete many important works in government and religi ...

. He was recognised in his lifetime as one of the most talented Sienese painters of the mid-14th century and is the only one of his generation to be mentioned by

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer who is best known for his work ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', considered the ideol ...

. It is likely that his family connections afforded him special opportunities for Sienese patronage, which he enjoyed from the very beginning of his career. Unlike many of his contemporaries he does not seem to have been under any pressure to seek employment outside the city.

History

Bulgarini’s oeuvre has seen much controversy in its reconstructions, with works formerly attributed to Ugolino Lorenzetti, a composite name constructed in 1917 by

Bernard Berenson Bernard Berenson (June 26, 1865 – October 6, 1959) was an American art historian specializing in the Renaissance. His book ''The Drawings of the Florentine Painters'' was an international success. His wife Mary is thought to have had a large ...

, referencing the stylistic similarities to Ugolino Di Niero and Pietro Lorenzetti, which he attached to a small body of nine paintings believed to all be by the same unknown

Sienese Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

artist. The paintings were grouped on a similar visual fluency, style and formula demonstrating a distinctly “Ugolini-esque” aesthetic. However, of those nine paintings six were later attributed to "The master of the

Ovile Madonna The Ovile (Latin, "sheep fold") was an enclosed area of the Campus Martius in Ancient Rome, used for voting. The name came from its resemblance to sheep pens. It was sometimes referred to as the ''Saepta'' (Latin, "enclosure"). It was a wooden struc ...

" by Ernst Dewald on the grounds of a perceived fundamental stylistic difference he claimed separated the paintings. It wasn’t until Millard Meiss made the argument that the works attributed to both "The master of the Ovile Madonna" and "Ugolino Lorenzetti" might actually be by the same artist, Bulgarini. San Pietro a Ovile was the parish church in the district where Bulgarini and his wife lived for most of their married life. Much of the difficulty in constructing his oeuvre is due to the lack of documentation needed to establish the painter's authorship and timeline of his work. The only known autographed work by Bulgarini is the St. Victor

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

Siena Cathedral Siena Cathedral () is a medieval church in Siena, Italy, dedicated from its earliest days as a Roman Catholic Marian church, and now dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. Since the early 13th-century the Siena Cathedral has been an important pa ...

. It was not until much later when several documents were found and the St Victor Altarpiece was reconstructed that we are able to have a clearer picture of his artistic career. Bulgarini was almost exclusively a panel painter, which is rare among 14th century Sienese painters. He may have completed manuscripts or frescoes that remain unattributed or were painted over, but no such works have yet been discovered.

The St. Victor Altarpiece

This altarpiece (1348–1350),Steinhoff-Morrison, Judith “Bartolomeo Bulgarini and Sienese Painting of the Mid-Fourteenth century” PhD dissertation, Princeton University, 1990. found in the

, was one of four altarpieces commissioned by the Commune, that depict the four patrons saints of the city. The other three altarpieces: ''

St Ansanus Saint Ansanus () (died 304 AD), called ''The Baptizer'' or ''The Apostle of Siena'', is the patron saint of Siena, a scion of the Anician family of Rome. Legend His legend states that he was born of a noble Roman family in the third century. ...

'' by

, ''St Crescentious'' by Ambrogio Lorenzetti and ''St Savinus'' by Pietro Lorenzetti; were identified earlier because the panels were signed and dated, and because of 15th century inventories from the cathedral. However, none of these sources were consistent in mentioning the St Victor Altarpiece. It wasn’t until the late 16th century that previously lost inventories, made by Guigurta Tommasi, named Bulgarini as the painter of the St Victor altarpiece.

Career

The earliest mention of Bulgarini is in 1338 for a payment made for painting the cover of the Biccherna, the book containing the financial transactions for the Commune starting in the thirteenth century until the fifteenth century. He entered the workshop of Pietro Lorenzetti as an apprentice or assistant. In 1341 and 1342 he was commissioned for two more covers for consecutive seasons. His career, starting roughly in the 1330s, lasted into the 1370s. The loss of many of the older master painters through the Black Death left him as one of the most recognized painters in the city. The earliest of his surviving works is the triptych with Saints Ansanus and Galganus painted circa 1339 for the Palazzo Pubblico. His last documented work supposedly signed and dated 1373, which is now lost, was a panel painting for the hospital of

Santa Maria Della Scala Santa Maria della Scala (English: Mary of the Staircase) is a titular church, titular churches of Rome, church in Rome, Italy, located in the Trastevere rione. It is served by friars of the Discalced Carmelite Order. Cardinal Ernest Simoni took p ...

in Siena although he was active up until his death in 1378.

The ''Assumption of the Virgin and Doubting Thomas'' Altarpiece

The ''Assumption of the Virgin with Doubting Thomas'' (early 1360s) is a large panel painted by Bulgarini. It was part of an altarpiece for the chapel which housed a group of important relics acquired by the

Santa Maria della Scala Santa Maria della Scala (English: Mary of the Staircase) is a titular church, titular churches of Rome, church in Rome, Italy, located in the Trastevere rione. It is served by friars of the Discalced Carmelite Order. Cardinal Ernest Simoni took p ...

Hospital from

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, which included the Virgin’s belt or girdle that she cast down to

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

as tangible proof of her physical ascent to heaven. The importance of the relics is reflected in the composition of the panel painted by Bulgarini. Bulgarini’s somewhat unusual portrayal of Thomas with his back to the viewer differs from other iconography of the period, perhaps representing the position of the parishioners and Sienese officiants in worship of the virgin and the recently acquired relics in the newly constructed chapel.

Works

Works attributed to Bulgarini are found at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Art Museum in Boston; the

Fogg Art Museum The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (established in 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (established in 1903), and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (established in 1985), and four research ...

in Cambridge; the

Städel The Städel, officially the ''Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie'', is an art museum in Frankfurt, with one of the most important collections in Germany. The museum is located at the Museumsufer on the Sachsenhausen bank of t ...

Art Museum in Frankfurt (''Blinding of St Victor''); and the Wallraf Richartz Art Museum in Cologne (''Enthroned Madonna and Child'').