The artworks sometimes called ‘gold-ground paintings’ or, much worse, ‘Italian primitives’ are normally the preserve of academic research and rarely the subject of exhibitions. The exhibition ‘Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300–1350’ at the National Gallery in London until 22 June is therefore trailblazing, as well as being one of the most glorious displays of art ever seen in this country. This book matches it in the splendour of its production and the clarity of its design. It consists of shortish essays that combine expertise with lucid writing. The works of art it covers are reproduced to such a high standard that the discussion can be followed with an appreciation of the beauty of the originals.

It is likely that many will be coming fresh to these great works, and so some questions need answers. Why ‘1300–1350’ and why ‘the rise of painting’? It is because this was the period when artists producing gilded and painted wooden panels were establishing painting as the dominant medium for the first time. And there’s another question: why Siena? To which the answer is that its part in the rise of painting has largely been forgotten. 

If it sounds surprising that painting had any rising to do, consider the fact that the most coveted and expensive items in the Vatican in the 13th century were needlework vestments from England (opus anglicanum). Metalwork and sculpture ranked just below these. As for painted panels of