Trecento «Characteristic» and «Grotesque»: Frederic Burton, Charles Fairfax Murray and Early Sienese Painting in the National Gallery 1874-94

This paper examines the efforts made under Frederic Burton (1816-1900), its director from 1874 to 1894, to see trecento painting properly represented in the collection of the National Gallery in London. With particular regard to the then still undervalued Sienese school, it investigates the important role played in this process by the painter, connoisseur and dealer, Charles Fairfax Murray (1849-1919). The history of his not unproblematic personal and professional relationship with Burton sheds light on a decisive but little explored late phase in the reception of early Sienese painting.