around 1398 -1482 · Siena and visionary Gothic

Unreal landscapes, precious colors and miniature stories give Giovanni di Paolo a unique place in 15th century Sienese painting.

Giovanni di Paolo was probably born in Siena around 1398 and was documented as a painter as early as 1417. His first signed and dated work dates back to 1426. After Sassetta, he became one of the major figures of Sienese painting of the first Quattrocento. While Florence builds a rational space based on perspective, Giovanni preserves gold, the Gothic line and a deliberately poetic geography. His altarpieces follow the traditional settings of the city: Virgin in Majesty, isolated saints, pinnacles and predelles. But its small narrative panels follow the traditional settings of the city: Virgin in Majesty, isolated saints, pinnacles and predelles. But its small narrative panels follow the traditional settings of the city: Virgin in Majesty, isolated saints, pinnacles and predelles. But its small narrative panels follow the traditional settings of the city: Virgin in Majesty, isolated saints, pinnacles and predelles. But its small narrative panels follow the traditional settings of the city: Virgin in Majesty, isolated saints, pinnacles and predelles. But its small narrative panels follow the traditional settings of the city: Virgin in Majesty, isolated saints, pinnacles and predelles. But its small narrative panels follow the traditional settings of the city: both earthly and supernatural. Figures can appear several times to tell the stages of the same story. Giovanni paints numerous cycles dedicated to Saint John the Baptist, Saint Catherine of Siena and episodes from the life of Christ. In The Creation of the World and the Expulsion from Paradise, a circular cosmos with concentric colors meets a garden of imaginative precision. His illuminations for Dante's Paradise, now scattered, show that he also masters the painted book and sequential narration. His illuminations for Dante's Paradise, now scattered, show that he also masters the painted book and sequential narration. His illuminations for Dante's Paradise, now scattered, show that he also masters the painted book and sequential narration. His illuminations for Dante's Paradise, now scattered, show that he also masters the painted book and sequential narration. His color combines deep blues, pinks, reds, greens and gold with an almost jewel-like intensity. Rocks and architecture do not seek optical accuracy: they express the distance, the ordeal or the miraculous nature of the story. Very prolific for several decades, Giovanni led an important workshop and adapted his models to numerous commissions. He worked less in the last years of his life and died in Siena in 1482. His work transformed the Sienese tradition into visionary, intimate and immediately recognizable theater. The "Giovanni di Paolo" selection notably compares The Adoration of the Magi and The Angel of the Annunciation. His reading favors atmosphere.

In Giovanni di Paolo, the landscape thinks with the figures: the mountain narrows, the city moves away and gold opens the story to the invisible.