Saint Agnes

Taddeo di Bartolo, a distinguished Italian painter of the Sienese school, was born in Siena in 1362 and passed away in the same city on August 26, 1422. Contrary to earlier beliefs by Vasari, he was the son of Bartolo di Mino, a barber, and not related to the painter Bartolo di Fredi, thus not a brother to Andrea di Bartolo. His mother was unaware of his artistic pursuits, which began to flourish by 1389 when he was registered in the Matricola dei pittori senesi. His earliest surviving work, a polyptych depicting the Madonna with Child and Saints, was created for the chapel of San Paolo in Collegalli near Montaione. Taddeo's career took him beyond Siena, including a documented stay in Genoa in 1393, where he received commissions from Cattaneo Spinola for two paintings in the church of San Luca. Between 1395 and 1397, he was likely in Pisa, producing significant works such as a polyptych for the church of San Francesco and a Madonna with Child enthroned with Saints for San Paolo all'Orto. His frescoes in the Sardi Campigli chapel of the same Franciscan church, depicting the Transit of Mary and Saints, are notable from this period. In 1397, he signed the Baptism of Christ in the Collegiata of Triora. Returning to Siena by 1400, Taddeo contributed a triptych to the Oratory of Santa Caterina della Notte and a now-lost Last Judgment for the city's Duomo. The pinnacle of his artistic achievement came in 1401 with the triptych for the Duomo of Montepulciano, celebrated for its intricate depiction of the Assumption of the Virgin, surrounded by angels and apostles, culminating in her Coronation. This work exemplifies his mastery in narrating sacred stories through vivid, sequential imagery.