Biography for Simone Martini

Employment

Simone Martini was one of the leading painters of Siena during the early fourteenth century. In 1315 he was commissioned to produce a work for the town hall in Siena, he also worked in Naples, Pisa and Florence. In later years he worked at the papal court of Avignon. The quality of his work was such that his friend, the Italian poet and scholar Petrarch (1304-1374), noted that 'Surely my friend Simone was once in paradise'.