Child are noted for their depth of character and solidity of
form, while 60 other panels depicting the life of Christ
and the saints illustrate Duccio’s narrative power and the
new infusion of emotion into old Byzantine models. Like
the small Madonna of the Franciscans (1290; Pinacoteca,
Siena), usually ascribed to him, the Maestà was remark-
able also for its exquisite use of color and of gold as both
decoration and an essential feature of the composition.
Duccio stood for the transition from Byzantine to Gothic,
influencing Sienese painters including Simone MARTINI
and the LORENZETTIbrothers well into the 15th century,
and his sense of composition and drama heralds even later
Renaissance developments.
Further reading: Luciano Bellusi, Duccio: The Maestà
(London: Thames & Hudson, 1999); James H. Stub-
blebine, Duccio di Buoninsegna and His School (Princeton,
N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1979).
Ducerceau family (Du Cerceau family) A French family
of architects and designers, who were active from the mid-
16th century to the mid-17th century. Jacques Androuet
(c. 1520–c. 1585) established the family’s reputation with
his collections of architectural and decorative engravings,
including Les plus excellents bastiments de France (1576,
1579), which bear witness to the influence of Italian
works, with which he became acquainted during visits to
that country early in his career. His patrons included the
French royal family and he worked on several châteaux,
although nothing now remains of these buildings. His
engravings are valuable evidence for works now lost or
severely damaged, such as ROSSO FIORENTINO’s, PRIMATIC-
CIO’s, and Leonard Thiry’s at FONTAINEBLEAU. His son Bap-
tiste Androuet (1545–90) succeeded him as a leading
architect; his only surviving work is the Pont-Neuf in
Paris, begun in 1578. In 1584 Henry III made him super-
visor of the royal office of works and he may have been
employed on the Hôtel d’Angoulême and the Hôtel
de Lamoignon (1584) in Paris. Two other sons, Jacques
(c. 1550–1614) and Charles (died 1606), were also active
as architects. Baptiste’s son Jean (1585–1649) was a no-
table designer of private houses under Louis XIII, produc-
ing the Hôtel de Sully (1624–29) and the Hôtel de
Bretonvillieurs (1637–43) as well as the horseshoe stairs
at Fontainebleau (c. 1630).
Dudley, Robert, Earl of Leicester See LEICESTER,
ROBERT DUDLEY, EARL OF
Dufay, Guillaume (c. 1400–1474) French composer
Dufay was probably born in Cambrai, where he sang in
the cathedral choir as a boy. Some of his compositions
from the early 1420s were written for the Malatesta family
in Pesaro. By 1426 he seems to have been back in France
and by 1430 he held benefices at Laôn cathedral, Nou-
vion-les-Vineux, and St. Géry in Cambrai. In 1428 Dufay
joined the papal choir. By the time he left the choir in
1433 he was one of the most famous musicians in Europe.
Dufay had close associations with two famous families,
the ESTEand the house of SAVOY. A notable occasion to
which he contributed music was the marriage in 1434 of
Louis, son of Duke Amadeus VIII of Savoy. In 1436, back
in the papal choir, Dufay wrote one of his most famous
works, Nuper rosarum flores, for the dedication of
BRUNELLESCHI’s dome of Florence cathedral. From 1440
Dufay was again in Cambrai as a canon at the cathedral,
and apart from seven years in Savoy from around 1451, he
spent the rest of his life there.
Dufay was no great innovator, but a master of the es-
tablished techniques of composition. His secular works
consist mainly of rondeaux; he also composed in the stan-
dard ballade and virelai form of his day. His sacred works
show more development of style; the early Masses are in
single and paired movements, where the later ones, such
as the Missa sine nomine, are in cyclical, musically unified
forms, as found in English Masses of the period. The
motets were written for special occasions and are extraor-
dinary in their complexity. The leading composer of his
day, he greatly influenced his contemporaries, and his
works were copied and performed throughout Europe.
Further reading: David Fallows, Dufay (London:
Dent, 1982; rev. ed. 1987).Du Guillet, Pernette (c. 1520–1545) French poet
Few facts are known about her life: she was born and lived
in Lyons and married in 1538 but remained childless. A
skilled musician and linguist, Du Guillet belonged to the
Lyons school of writers, which formed a link between
France and the poetry of the Italian Renaissance, and she
enjoyed considerable popularity in this regional center of
intellectual and academic excellence. She was an admirer
of Maurice SCÈVE, whom she had met in 1536 and with
whom she exchanged verses. Her creative work, which
dates from 1537, took the form of élégies and chansons, as
well as more satirical letter-poems and dialogues. Seventy
of her poems about love and friendship were published in
1545 as Rimes de gentille et vertueuse Dame Pernette du
Guillet. She is thought to have died of the plague. Al-
though widely read in her lifetime, her work fell rapidly
into neglect, and it was not rediscovered and republished
until the 19th century.Dunstable, John (c. 1390–1453) English composer
There are no certain details of Dunstable’s career, but it is
probable that he served John, Duke of Bedford; the church
where he is buried, St. Stephen’s, Walbrook, in London,
belonged to the duke until 1432. Dunstable’s importance
as a composer was recognized by contemporaries both in
England and on the Continent. Much of his work survives
in Italian and German manuscripts. The overwhelming
majority of Dunstable’s surviving works are sacred and for115500 DDuucceerrcceeaauu ffaammiillyy