• Plan your visit

    The Shimmer of Gold: Giovanni di Paolo in Renaissance Siena

    October 11, 2016–January 8, 2017

    Getty Center

    Branchini Madonna (detail), 1427, Giovanni di Paolo, tempera and gold leaf on panel. The Norton Simon Foundation, Pasadena

    Branchini Madonna (detail), 1427, Giovanni di Paolo, tempera and gold leaf on panel. The Norton Simon Foundation, Pasadena

  • Branchini Madonna, 1427, Giovanni di Paolo, tempera and gold leaf on panel. The Norton Simon Foundation, Pasadena

    Branchini Madonna, 1427, Giovanni di Paolo, tempera and gold leaf on panel. The Norton Simon Foundation, Pasadena

  • The Adoration of the Magi, 1427, Giovanni di Paolo, tempera and gold leaf on panel. Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, the Netherlands

    The Adoration of the Magi, 1427, Giovanni di Paolo, tempera and gold leaf on panel. Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, the Netherlands

  • The Presentation in the Temple, 1427, Giovanni di Paolo, tempera and gold leaf on panel. Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena (Polo Museale Regionale della Toscana)

    The Presentation in the Temple, 1427, Giovanni di Paolo, tempera and gold leaf on panel. Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena (Polo Museale Regionale della Toscana)

  • Initial A: Christ Appearing to David, cutting from a gradual, about 1440, Giovanni di Paolo, tempera colors, gold leaf, and ink on parchment. The J. Paul Getty Museum

    Initial A: Christ Appearing to David, cutting from a gradual, about 1440, Giovanni di Paolo, tempera colors, gold leaf, and ink on parchment. The J. Paul Getty Museum

  • The Coronation of the Virgin, about 1420, Gentile da Fabriano, tempera and gold leaf on panel. The J. Paul Getty Museum

    The Coronation of the Virgin, about 1420, Gentile da Fabriano, tempera and gold leaf on panel. The J. Paul Getty Museum

  • Initial V: The Ascension, cutting from a gradual, designed about 1410; completed about 1431. Designed by Lorenzo Monaco and completed by Zanobi di Benedetto Strozzi and Battista di Biagio Sanguini, tempera and gold on parchment. The J. Paul Getty Museum

    Initial V: The Ascension, cutting from a gradual, designed about 1410; completed about 1431. Designed by Lorenzo Monaco and completed by Zanobi di Benedetto Strozzi and Battista di Biagio Sanguini, tempera and gold on parchment. The J. Paul Getty Museum

The Shimmer of Gold: Giovanni di Paolo in Renaissance Siena

October 11, 2016–January 8, 2017, Getty Center

/ Plan your visit

Manuscript illuminator and panel painter Giovanni di Paolo was one of the most distinctive and imaginative artists working in Siena, Italy, during the Renaissance. This exhibition reunites several panels from one of his most important commissions—an altarpiece for the Branchini family chapel in the church of San Domenico in Siena—for the first time since its dispersal, and presents illuminated manuscripts and paintings by Giovanni and his close collaborators and contemporaries. Through recent technical findings, the exhibition reveals his creative use of gold and paint to achieve remarkable luminous effects in both media.

The Branchini Altarpiece has been studied by conservators and curators at the Getty Museum as part of a conservation partnership with the Norton Simon Foundation and the Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, the Netherlands. The Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena, the Burke Family Collection, James E. and Elizabeth J. Ferrell, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art have generously lent related works of exceptional quality.

Support for this project and exhibition has been provided by the Getty Museum's Paintings Council.

RELATED EVENTS

TALKS
A Golden Palette: Techniques of Renaissance Painter-Illuminators from Siena

Giovanni di Paolo was a master at creating magical effects on panel and parchment in early Renaissance Siena. This illustrated lecture by Yvonne Szafran (senior conservator of paintings) and Bryan C. Keene (assistant curator of manuscripts) explores the painterly materials and range of optical effects that Giovanni utilized over the course of his long career. Free; advance ticket required.

Sunday, November 6, 3:00 p.m.
Getty Center, Museum Lecture Hall

Giovanni di Paolo: The 20th-Century Rediscovery of a Renaissance Painter

Along with Sassetta and the so-called “Maestro dell’Osservanza,” Giovanni di Paolo was one of the greatest Sienese painters of the Renaissance. In this talk, Davide Gasparotto, senior curator of paintings, explores di Paolo's intense, fertile imagination and highly individual way of using line and color, and explains how these features of di Paolo's work contributed to his rediscovery in the early 20th century. Gasparotto describes how modern art historians and collectors interpreted di Paolo's poetic visions in connection with currents of modern art, such as surrealism. Free; advance ticket required.

Wednesday, November 30, 7:00 p.m.
Getty Center, Museum Lecture Hall

DEMONSTRATION
Artist at Work: Color and Gold

Medieval and Renaissance paintings and illuminations are alive with color and shimmer with gold. Drop by as artist Sylvana Barrett explores how these beautiful and exotic colors were made and demonstrates techniques for creating elaborate gold gilding. Free, drop-in program.

Sunday, November 27, 1:00–3:00 p.m.
Thursday, December 22, 1:00–3:00 p.m.
Friday, December 30, 1:00–3:00 p.m.
Tuesday, January 3, 1:00–3:00 p.m.
Sunday, January 8, 1:00–3:00 p.m
Getty Center, Museum Studios

COURSE
The Luminous Panel: Egg Tempera Panel Painting

From Byzantine icons and medieval altarpieces to contemporary works, the art of panel painting with egg tempera has been practiced for centuries. Join artist Sylvana Barrett for a daylong studio workshop exploring this delicate yet versatile medium. Participants make paint, explore both historic and modern painting techniques, and create a small panel painting. Course fee $125 (includes materials and lunch). Complimentary parking.

Saturday, December 3, 10:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Getty Center, Museum Studios

TOUR
Curator’s Gallery Tour

Davide Gasparotto, senior curator of paintings, the J. Paul Getty Museum, leads a gallery tour of the exhibition. Meet under the stairs in the Entrance Hall. Sign-up begins at 1:30 p.m. at the Information Desk. Capacity limited.

Wednesday, December 7, 2:30 p.m.
Getty Center, Museum galleries

MOBILE

Free GettyGuide® Multimedia Player

Mobile Gallery Icon
Learn about Giovanni di Paulo’s Branchini Altarpiece and why gold was such a prevalent and creative material in Italian Renaissance painting.

Pick up a multimedia player free of charge in the Museum Entrance Hall.

RELATED EXHIBITIONS

Plan your visit
Share