Ambrogio Lorenzetti - Selected works

Painter born in Siena, C Italy. Probably taught by his brother Pietro, he worked in Cortona and Florence, and is best known for his allegorical frescoes in the Palazzo Pubblico at Siena, symbolizing the effects of good and bad government. His ‘Annunciation’ is also at Siena.

Three walls are painted with frescoes consisting of a large assembly of allegorical figures of virtues in Allegory of Good Government . In the other two facing panels, Ambrogio weaves panoramic visions of Effects of Good Government on Town and Country, and Allegory of Bad Government and its Effects on Town and Country (also called "Ill-governed Town and Country"). The better preserved "well-governed town and country" is an unrivaled pictorial encyclopedia of incidents in a peaceful medieval "borgo" and coutryside.

The first evidence of the existence of the hourglass can be found in one of his paintings (see external link above).

He is believed to have died of bubonic plague circa 1348/9.

Selected works

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ambrogio Lorenzetti Virgin and Child Enthroned (1319) San Procolo altarpiece (1332) Investiture of St. Louis of Toulouse (1329), fresco at San Francesco, Siena Franciscan Martyrdom at Bombay (c. 1336), fresco at San Francesco, Siena Santa Petronilla Altarpiece (1340s) Good Government (left), Bad Government (right), c.