Simone Martini

Born in Siena around 1284, Simone Martini likely trained under Duccio di Buoninsegna, the city's leading painter, though the Renaissance biographer Vasari later claimed he studied with Giotto in Florence and traveled with him to Rome to work at Old St. Peter's Basilica. He became a major figure in early Italian painting, his work marked by refined line and aristocratic grace. His brother-in-law was the artist Lippo Memmi. According to the art historian E. H. Gombrich, Simone befriended the poet Petrarch and painted a portrait of Laura, Petrarch's muse. He died in July 1344, leaving behind a bo…