Duccio di Buoninsegna 067 - The Yorck Project Masterpieces of Painting

Byzantine architectural and visual style was a style that existed with remarkable homogeneity within the Eastern Roman empire between the 6th century and until the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453. The Byzantine style's presence extended to Greece. Through Venetians, who became Constantinople's archrivals, it spread to Italy, and Sicily, where it persisted almost intact through the 12th century and became a foundation for the Italian Renaissance. Preserved by the Eastern Orthodox church, the Byzantine style spread to eastern Europe, the Balkans, and particularly to Russia, where it remained, with little or no local modification, through the 17th century. Byzantine architecture and painting remained uniform in tradition rather than changed with time and personal expression. The result is a sophistication of style and spiritual expression not paralleled in Western art. As with all large Picryl collections, this one is made with the assistance of AI image recognition. It allows collections of sizes never seen before. We do our best to clean after AI as it is based solely on visual resemblance and we apologize if we missed a few images in the collection that do not belong to the Byzantine style.

Duccio di Buoninsegna (c.1255–1260–c.1318–1319) was an Italian painter of the late medieval and early Renaissance periods. He is considered one of the most influential artists of the Sienese school, a style of painting that emerged in Siena, Italy, during the 13th and 14th centuries. Duccio's exact birth and death dates are not well-documented, but he is believed to have been born around 1255 in Siena. He was active as a painter during the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Duccio's style marked a transition from the stylized Byzantine art that was prevalent in Italy during the Middle Ages to the more naturalistic and expressive forms of the Renaissance. One of Duccio's most famous works is the "Maestà" (1308-1311), a large altarpiece created for the Siena Cathedral. The Maestà depicts the Virgin and Child enthroned, surrounded by angels and saints. It is known for its intricate details, rich color palette, and a sense of spirituality. The reverse side of the Maestà features scenes from the life of Christ. Duccio's contributions to the development of Sienese painting and the transition to the Renaissance were significant. His work laid the foundation for later artists, and his influence can be seen in the art of subsequent generations in Siena and beyond.