Duccio is considered one of the greatest Italian painters of the Middle Ages,[2] and is credited with creating the painting styles of Trecento and the Sienese school.

Due to gaps where Duccio's name goes unmentioned in the Sienese records for years at a time, scholars speculate he may have traveled to Paris, Assisi and Rome.

Where Duccio studied, and with whom, is still a matter of great debate, but by analyzing his style and technique art historians have been able to limit the field.

Differently from his contemporaries and artists before him, Duccio was a master of tempera and managed to conquer the medium with delicacy and precision.

[5] Duccio's style was similar to Byzantine art in some ways, with its gold backgrounds and familiar religious scenes; however, it was also different and more experimental.

He used modeling (playing with light and dark colors) to reveal the figures underneath the heavy drapery; hands, faces, and feet became more rounded and three-dimensional.

[10] Duccio was also one of the first painters to put figures in architectural settings, as he began to explore and investigate depth and space.

Duccio's figures seem to be otherworldly or heavenly, consisting of beautiful colors, soft hair, gracefulness and fabrics not available to mere humans.

Many of the artists are anonymous, and their connection to Duccio has emerged only from analysis of a body of work with common stylistic traits.

Later the two developed styles with completely independent characteristics such that they acquired an artistic standing that elevates them well beyond being labelled simply as followers of Duccio.

[11][12] The exhibit was judged “the must-see art show of the season.”[13][14] Media related to Paintings by Duccio di Buoninsegna at Wikimedia Commons