New York, NY — A powerful image greets visitors at the entrance to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art: a detail from The Raising of Lazarus (1310-1311) by Duccio di Buoninsegna, founder of the Sienese school, setting the tone for the museum’s latest exhibition, Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300-1350. The iconic scene depicts Jesus on a hill, pointing toward a dark-winged figure—a demon, perhaps—amidst buildings that appear miniature next to the large, almost monumental figures.
The detail used in the promotional poster captures Christ with outstretched arms, poised in a commanding gesture. For those familiar with the full painting, the scene to the right reveals Lazarus, eyes open in a moment of resurrection, brought back to life by Christ’s command. This moment of divine intervention perfectly embodies the exhibition’s central theme: how Sienese artists of the late Middle Ages revolutionized painting, infusing it with a new expressiveness and naturalism that marked the origins of European painting. The exhibition, featuring groundbreaking works from the Sienese school, invites viewers to step into a transformative era, where religious subjects were rendered with unprecedented realism, bringing a heightened emotional depth to the depiction of sacred narratives.
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