you might be thinking who is lorenzetti?n in this country, but one of the biggest developments in the history of art might never have happened without him and those around him. lorenzetti worked as a painter in 14th century italy and in the tuscan city of siena and was probably taught in the workshop of this late medieval master, but in a time when religion dominated art, they started to paint their spiritualfigures in a more human, more naturalistic style, with more perspective, something that paved the way for world —famous artists like michelangelo, leonardo da vinci, to develop in the renaissance. lorenzetti along with a few others stands at the beginning of this new movement which developed since the renaissance which is so important for the development of art throughout europe so we're looking at a piece of art which is at the start of this approach, which is concerned with natural appearances and human psychology. something that already is talking to us in a language we can understand. but restoring the painting was a

because it's the only painting by pietro lorenzetti in the uk.is work still exists in its originalform, this is a fragment of a much larger altarpiece, but when they bought it here for more than £5 million in 2012 it's set a world record for the artist. but time had not been kind to this tiny work of art, buried under varnish, dirt and clumsy repairs. so in 2013, the painting was sent to the national gallery in london to be worked on by one of the world's best restoration teams. repairs were done a long time ago using gold—coloured bronze, powder, as paint, and that had discoloured enormously into a kind of slimy green and black. smears across much of the background. st peter was quite buried under layers of varnish. the fact that paul is wearing these kind of wonderful lilac and mustard robes. when he arrived, he was looking like a franciscan monk — he looked very brown—grey. you might be thinking pietro who? he is not grow well known in this country, but one of the biggest developments in the history of art might never have happened without him