Martini

Martini, Giovanni Battista, 1706-84, Italian composer and teacher, also known as Padre Martini. Martini became a priest in 1722. He acquired great prestige as a teacher, particularly of counterpoint. His students included J. C. Bach, Gluck, Grétry, and Mozart. Martini built up a vast library devoted to the historical, scientific, and mathematical aspects of music.

Martini, Simone, or Simone di Martino, c.1283-1344, major Sienese painter. His art is admired for its Gothic spirituality combined with a vibrancy and a great elegance of line. A follower of Duccio di Buoninsegna, his earliest known work (1315) was a fresco depicting the Maestà (Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints and Angels) in the Palazzo Pubblico, Siena. In 1317, King Robert of Anjou invited him to Naples to paint St. Louis Enthroned (Naples Mus.). He created altarpieces for the Dominicans of Pisa and Orvieto. One of these is now in the Gardner Museum, Boston. In 1328 he painted one of the first commemorative portraits, an impressive, almost heraldic, image of the soldier Guidoriccio da Fogliano, with a starkly landscaped background (Palazzo Pubblico, Siena). His painting of the Annunciation (1333; Uffizi) is famous for its exquisitely refined use of outline. In this work, as in others, he was assisted by his brother-in-law Lippo Memmi. At the invitation of Pope Benedict XII, he went to Avignon in 1339 and decorated the portal of Notre Dame des Dons (almost obliterated). He became friends with Petrarch and designed a frontispiece for him for a Vergil codex (Ambrosian Library, Milan). His frescoes (of uncertain date) at Assisi include lively scenes from the life of St. Martin. Other works by Simone are in Siena, Berlin, Liverpool, and in the Louvre.

(born circa 1284, Siena, Republic of Siena—died 1344, Avignon, Provence) Italian painter. An exponent of Gothic art, he did much to spread the influence of Sienese painting. Duccio di Buoninsegna influenced his use of harmonious, pure colour, but his graceful, decorative lines were inspired by French Gothic art, as seen in his Maestà fresco (1315), which depicts the Madonna as a Gothic queen holding court beneath a Gothic canopy. His equestrian portrait of Guidoriccio da Fogliano (1328) was an important precedent for Renaissance equestrian portraits.

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Martini may refer to:

Things

• Martini (vermouth), a brand of vermouth
• Martini (cocktail), a popular cocktail
• Martini Racing, motor racing teams sponsored by the Martini vermouth producer
• Martini (automobile company), Swiss automobile company
• Martini (racing), a French manufacturer of lower-formula racing cars
• Martini (festival), a festival formerly celebrated in Latvia
• Martini shot, a term used during film production for the last shot of the day
• Martini-Henry, a rifle used by 19th century British empire soldiers
• Martini-Enfield, a .303 calibre version of the Martini-Henry introduced in 1895

People

• Alessandro Martini (1812–1905), Italian businessman, founder of Martini & Rossi distillery
• Alviero Martini (born 1940), Italian fashion designer
• Carlo Maria Martini (born 1927), Roman Catholic cardinal
• Francesco di Giorgio Martini (1439–1502), Italian painter, sculptor, architect and military engineer
• Friedrich von Martini (1833–1897), Swiss engineer, inventor and gunsmith
• Friedrich Wilhelm Martini (1729–1780), German physician
• Giovanni Battista Martini (1706–1784), Italian musician
• Jean Paul Egide Martini (1741–1816), Franco-German composer
• Johannes Martini (1440–1498), Franco-Flemish composer
• Johannes Martini (painter) (1866–1935), German oil painter and graphic artist
• Karl Anton von Martini (1726–1800), Austrian lawyer whose work strongly influenced the Austrian Civil Code of 1811
• Martino Martini (1614–1661), Italian Jesuit missionary and cartographer of China
• Pierluigi Martini (born 1961), Italian former racing driver
• Simone Martini (1284–1344), Italian painter
• Steve Martini (born 1946), American legal suspense writer

Places

• Martini, Albania, town in Qarku i Fierit, Albania
• Martini, Greece, town in Karditsa Prefecture, Greece,
• Embajador Martini, Argentina, a village in La Pampa Province, Argentina,

See also

• Martiny Township, Michigan
• Pink Martini, an American music group