This fully illustrated publication culminates more than five years of interdisciplinary research into thirteenth-century Italian painting techniques, significantly advancing the understanding of this earliest flourishing of Italian painting. The result of an international collaboration between scientists, art historians and conservators from leading research institutions worldwide, it addresses a critical gap in art-historical scholarship by presenting in-depth technical studies on Duecento painting, a historically under-explored field.
Thirty papers resulting from interactions and discussions at the conference Duecento Painting: The Art and Technique of Margarito d’Arezzo and His Contemporaries (Arezzo, 9-11 October 2025) detail recent state-of-the-art scientific research into the materials and techniques of these paintings, as well as compelling research from leading scholars on the art-historical context, history of collecting and conservation history, helping us understand Duecento painting in an unprecedented way. Investigations into the most significant part of Margarito's work are brought into dialogue with the broader context of contemporary painters in Tuscany and Umbria, including Meliore, Coppo di Marcovaldo and the Master of Saint Francis. A fuller understanding of Italian thirteenth-century visual culture is added through contributions on wall paintings, manuscripts, polychrome sculpture and textiles, which illuminate techniques and stylistic impulses shared across media. This volume presents a definitive reference on Duecento painting technology, art history and conservation, enriching our understanding of the artistic innovations that emerged during the thirteenth century and highlighting their significance in the context of European art history.
Foreword
Introduction to the volume: Luisa Berretti Rossella Cavigli, Helen Howard and Francesca Piqué
Dialogue in Two Voices: Byzantium and Central Italian Thirteenth-Century Painting: Sonia Chiodo
Plates
The Paintings and technique of Margarito d’Arezzo
The three Margarito d'Arezzo paintings at the Museo Nazionale d’Arte Medievale e Moderna, Arezzo: Art historical context, conservation history and technical observations on the methods of Margarito's workshop: Luisa Berretti and Rossella Cavigli
The three Margarito paintings at the Museo Nazionale d’Arte Medievale e Moderna, Arezzo: a multi-analytical non-invasive study: Claudia Caliri et al.
The Montelungo Madonna by Margarito: Re-visiting the sources and new provenance hypothesis: Lucia Bencistà
A non-invasive analytical study of a lesser-known panel painting by Margarito in Santa Maria in Valle at Laterina (Arezzo): Giovanni Gualdani et al.
Madonna and Child Enthroned with Four Saints by Margarito d’Arezzo at the National Gallery of Art, Washington: Insights on Technique and Recent Conservation Treatment: John Delaney et al.
From ‘rude beginnings’ to Aretine sophistication: The context and treatment of Margarito’s The Virgin and Child Enthroned with Scenes of the Nativity and the Lives of Saints: Imogen Tedbury and Kristina Mandy
Margarito d’Arezzo’s The Virgin and Child Enthroned, with Scenes of the Nativity and the Lives of the Saints: New discoveries using a multi-analytical approach: Helen Howard, David Peggie and Kristina Mandy
A comprehensive study of the thirteenth-century wall painting decorating the niche of Santa Maria delle Vertighe Sanctuary in Monte San Savino, Arezzo (Italy): Patrizia Moretti et al.
The Vertighe dossal by Margarito and Restoro d’Arezzo in Santa Maria delle Vertighe Sanctuary in Monte San Savino, Arezzo: Art historical context and observations on painting methods and technique: Rossella Cavigli et al.
Virgin and Child enthroned with four scenes from the life of the Virgin and six saints by Margarito and Restoro d’Arezzo in Santa Maria delle Vertighe Sanctuary in Monte San Savino, Arezzo: a multi analytical technique non-invasive study: Emanuela Grifoni et al.
Art, presence and performance at Duecento altars with the ‘Virgin and Child’: Patricia Simons
Margarito’s St Francis panels: questions, observations, hypotheses: John Renner
Saint Francis of Assisi by Margarito at the Vatican Museums: a review of technical studies: Anna Pizzamano et al.
Margarito’s Saint Francis at the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena: Axel Hemery et al.
Tracing Margarito’s materials and practices: Analytical Insights from the Margarito Research Project: Francesca Rosi et al.
Appendix. MOLAB Teams and scientific techniques
Duecento context: paintings
The colours of Francis's holiness: technique and restoration of the Bardi Altarpiece in Santa Croce, Florence: Lucia Biondi, Maria Letizia Amadori and Gianluca Poldi
The Saint Francis Panel in Pistoia: Life and Transformations of a Thirteenth-Century Masterpiece: Giacomo Guazzini
Survey of four works by the Master of the Franciscan Crucifixes: Diego Cauzzi et al.
The Master of Saint Francis: preliminary investigations on mural and panel paintings pictorial technique: Maria Cristina Tomassetti and Veruska Picchiarelli
The use of metal decoration by thirteenth-century Umbrian artists: Loredana Gallo
The genesis of Dalmatian medieval painting: schemes and techniques: Žana Matulić Bilač
Duecento Painting in Pisa: Observations on two Panels by the Master of Calci: Caterina Bay and Pierluigi Nieri
Technique and history in Megliore’s dossale (Florence, Gallerie degli Uffizi), with a proposal on Cosimo Rosselli: Sonia Chiodo and Andrea Santacesaria:
Two Tuscan duecento painting fragments in the Rijksmuseum: Giulia Sara de Vivo et al.
Study and technical analysis of The Madonna with Child and Angels of the former Oblate Convent in Florence: Maria Luisa Reginella
Duecento panel paintings in the Acton collection, Villa la Pietra, NYU: recent technical findings: Annika Svendsen Finne
Madonna and Child with Four Saints: Historical and Technical Study of a Late Duecento Dossal: Ruth Waddington and Derek Lintala
Duecento context: works of art in other media
Glimmering Pages. Two overlooked Choirbooks from Late Duecento Città di Castello: Martina Bordone, Virginia Caramico and Marta Vizzini
Ten Lost Gradual Folios and an Understudied Antiphonary: Insights into Aretine manuscript illumination in the second half of the Duecento: Rebecca W. Corrie
Gregory X’s ‘scapular’: an Arezzo matter: Graziella Palei and Paola Refice
The use of organic binders in Italian Duecento mural paintings: an overlooked question: Chiara Arrighi and Lorenzo Riccardi
The technical and art historical study of a pair of Duecento Dolenti polychrome wood sculptures in the Acton Collection: Scarlett Strauss, Ruth Waddington and Michele Marincola
