NEW YORK, NY.- Sienese artists revolutionised the art of painting over the course of the 14th and 15th centuries, imbuing paintings – whether large polyptychs, small-scale devotional works or manuscript illuminations – with a sense of drama, emotion, movement and narrative detail that had never before been seen. In recognition and celebration of this artistic brilliance which changed art history, Christie’s is holding an online private selling exhibition Siena and the Renaissance from 11 April to 11 July, which will showcase a curated selection of works in different media and trace the profound impact of this new approach to painting among Sienese artists from the mid-14th to the early 16th centuries, with prices from £35,000. Select highlights will be on view in London at the Christie’s Salon from 14 to 28 April. Further opportunities to view highlights will be available during the Classic Week auction series in New York (May), Paris (June) and in London (June and July).

John Hawley, Director, Head of Private Sales, Old Master Paintings EMEA: “Christie’s is proud to present an online private selling exhibition of paintings and manuscript illuminations by a number of leading Sienese artists active in the 14th to the early 16th centuries. Artists like Duccio, the brothers Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti and Simone Martini created paintings of delicate precision, often utilising sumptuous materials to enhance their brilliance. The success of these works is evident both in the generations of Sienese artists who followed their lead and the way in which these images enrapture audiences today much as they did viewers nearly 700 years ago.”

Building on Christie’s history of selling notable gold grounds and illuminated manuscripts, this exhibition complements the resurgent interest in this period, as evidenced by the critically acclaimed exhibition Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300 –1350 at the National Gallery, London, until 22 June 2025.