Sienese school; XIV- XV centuries.

Sienese school; XIV- XV centuries.
"Virgin ".
Carved and polychrome wood.
Measurements: 130 x 37 x 34 cm.
In an austere and sober way the artist shows us a divine entity holding a book in one of her hands, while she raises the other in such a way that interpellates the spectator. The idealized face with features that tend to the symbolic show us the aesthetic influence of the Gothic. However, her stylized figure and her posture with her hips slightly bent show us an advance towards the Renaissance, since these are features that refer to classical antiquity. Despite the few visible attributes, this is the Virgin.
The sculpture of the Sienese school of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries occupies a crucial place in the history of Italian art, as it embodies a unique synthesis between the Gothic tradition and the incipient concerns of the Renaissance. In the context of central Italy, Siena distinguished itself as an artistic center of deep spiritual sensitivity, whose sculptural production reflected both the civic religiosity and the aesthetic aspiration of its community.
In the 14th century, Sienese sculptors developed a formal language that, while sharing affinities with the Pisan school and with the legacy of Nicola and Giovanni Pisano, was characterized by a greater delicacy in the treatment of surfaces and an accentuated narrative dimension. Works such as those by Giovanni d'Agostino for the cathedral of Siena show figures of elegant proportions, meticulously draped folds and an interest in conveying serene emotions, which endowed the scenes with a particular lyricism. This penchant for grace and visual harmony was a hallmark that distinguished Siena from Florentine monumentality.
During the 15th century, with the arrival of Renaissance influences, Sienese sculpture did not abandon its Gothic spirit but transformed it into a refined synthesis. Artists such as Jacopo della Quercia took the style towards a greater naturalness, deepening the study of the human body and the representation of movement. His reliefs for the Porta Magna of San Petronio in Bologna or his interventions on the Gaia fountain show a more volumetric modeling and spatial understanding that prelude the Quattrocento, without sacrificing the linear elegance characteristic of Siena.