13th Italian and 14th Century Art Art History January 28, 2008 Username Morisot/password Seaside Syllabus and slide sheet is online Arthistory.rutgers.edu Nicola Pisano, Pulpit 1259-60, Marble. Baptistery, Pisa.
Humanism is very important in this period. !3-14th Century Paintings
Cimabue. Madonna Enthroned, c. 1280-90. Tempera on Panel.
Madonna Enthroned good example of 13th century Italian panel painting, alterpiece. Influenced by Byzantine era. During the fourth crusade Venice developed close relations with the east through the maritime travels of the fourth crusade. Gained access to some of the wealth coming in from the east. The Venetians divert the fourth crusade and sacked Constananoble, brought back with them beautiful artwork(prayer books, art, mosaics), Artists in Italy had access to the Byzantine tradition as a result of the fourth crusade and the sacking of Constananoble. Not only had the art but also had the artists from the east who came into Venice.
Mella Madonna. The angels are more distant and isolated from the Virgin Mary and the baby jesus.
Mella Madonna. Byzantine altarpiece Comparison: The Virgin Mary is the centre piece in both pieces. Both use hiarartic scale (central placement) In Madonna Enthroned old testament prophets lie below the Virgin Mary. The prophets had intimated the coming of Christ. The stonework in Madonna Enthroned is similar to that which is found in Venice. Both works incorporated a gold background with suggested a divine space/ temperoral/ spiritual realm. Madonna enthroned has the gable top which is highly characteristic of altarpieces in that era. Cimabue has more of an architectural presence than the Mella Madonna. There is an emphasis on symmetry and balance in the Cimabue. Mella Madonna has very linear, stylized striations in the drapery folds. Cimabue carried this over a bit in terms of the gold striations in the Virgin's mantle. The Virgin Mary is more feminine and softer in the Cimabue, but there is an anatomical discrepancy in the placement of the knees and feet of Mary. Getting a commission for an altar piece was very prestigious for an artist in this period. Template for altar piece. A B C D
E F Artist would come in and paint the actual figures with tempera(pigment suspended in an egg base) Giotto Altar Piece vs Cimabue. Giotto has surpassed his master Cimabue. Her face is suptly modeled, can get a sense of breasts, knees. Get a sense that there is a body under the drapery vs. Cimabue's linear drapery. Still retains the gable and golden background.
Giotto, Madonna Enthroned. C. 1310. Tempera on panel. Arena Chapel, Padua, Italy Built over roman arena. Giotto. Arena(Scrovegni Chapel), 1305-6. Fresco. Papua, Italy. Commissioned by Scrovegni family Giotto to paint their private chapel. Depictment of last judgment on back wall. The vault is painted in blue and studded with stars. Impression is that it opens up to the heavens, to a starry sky. Small monochromatic paintings on bottom row are done in brezai, meant to imitate or look like sculpture. Depict the virtue and the vices. Fresco Diagram (must work very quickly, paint binds to plaster wall) A Prepare wall with B
C D E F Everytime you paint a segment it leaves a seam or fission on the wall. Can use these to find out how long and when it took to paint the little scenes or diornatta(day in Italian/litereally translates to days work)
Giotto, The Lamentation. Located in Scrovegni chapel. The moment Christ has been taken off the cross and is being mourned by his mother Mary. Mary, John, Nicodemus, Joseph of Aramedia (provided Christ with a tomb for burial), angels swarming over head. Giotto was a masterful storyteller. All the important significant figures are in the foreground. Focus is on the main protaginists of the scene: Christ, his mother, Mary Magdalene, Joseph, Nicodemus. All placed in the foreground in a shallow space. Christ's body is elongated for effect. Foreground female figures are in a triangle shape. Angel overhead has a pained expression in his face, in the paralleled way that we see tortured face in Greco/roman tradition. Desecated tree to the right suggests the tree of knowledge. tree The has died, in turn Christ dies in order to redeem humanity so that the tree of life/knowledge can flourish again.
Duccio. Madonna Enthroned center of the Maesta Altar. 1308-11. Tempera on Panel. Madonna Enthroned Flanked by saints and angels. Central panel measures almost 11 feet in height. The altar piece was taken apart in the 18th century. When this altar piece was completed it was a great source of both pride for the church and the town. Shows the patron saints of cienna, John the Baptist(Christ's cousin). Garments have a beautiful flow to them, can get a sense of the knee underneath. Gold Background present. Vibrant colors (brilliant reds, deep blues) all complemented by shimmering gold background of the altar piece. Simone Martini. The annunciation. C 1330. Tempera on panel. Simone Martini works for French court and the pope while he is in residence in Avignon France(during the Great Schism). Simone Martini as an artist worked for the Pope in Avignon, is great friends with Petrarch. Male Saint to the left is the patron saint of Sienna. The middle scene is a the annunciation. The angel Gabriel flies down and tells Mary that she will give birth to Christ through immaculate conception.
The virgin was born without sin, the vase in the background with lilies are symbols of the virgins purity. The use of the gold ground dematerializes the scene. Simone Martini is very much focused on representing patterns, surface, textures. Virgin Mary traditionally dressed in the blue and red robe. Draperies fall in a very delicate even elegant manner. Virgin is modeled delicately, uses a very light pink to give us a sense of the blush on her cheeks. Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Italy Has remained very much unchanged since the 13th century. Ambrogio Lorenzetti. Frescoes in the Sala della Pace, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena Italy Siena prided itself as a commune whose civil government ran well. Attests to the well run government of Siena in the 14th century. Women dancing in the street, music in the streets, one woman has a tambourine. Traffic in and out of the city is orderly, leisurely. Trade is taking place in the street. Men are tending to animals. People are selling and buying goods in the street. City itself looks like typical late medieval city. All these towers, houses, churchs, almost crammed into the city centre. Projected toweres, villas, etc. in skyline. Can get a sense of the different rooftops to get a sense that this is an orderly yet busy, prosperous city. Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Good Government in the Country, 1338-39. Fresco. Sala della Pace, Palazzo Publico, Siena, Italy. Exiting out of the city and entering the country side is a lord, escorted by his vassels(peasents), and probably overseeing his fertile lands. This is a testament to the feudal model. The peasants are busy at work, the dark transition that we see here is the movement into bad government in the country. For historical reasons this fresco is important. Its one of the first landscapes that we see in art since antiquity. Figures interacting in a large outdoor setting. Ambrogio Lorenzetti gives us a birds eye view of the landscape. The Lord and the horses are presented in the foreground, while the trees in the background are small and in the distance. This is an actual place in site (the country side on the outskirts of Siena). The winged female figure is an allegory (personification of a particular moral concept). She's an allegory of security promising safety to all who live under the rule of the law. After 1348 we know very little about Ambrogio Lorenzetti or his brother, who is also famous, presumably they had died of the black death which was rampant through out Italy in the 13th and 14th century. This period has an impetus towards greater naturalusism. Interest in humanism and humanist learning, age of the great poets such as Dante, Petrarch, etc. Church was an important patrarch of the arts although it was in
a schism. The issue of civil pride (Eg Siena) is trying to shape its own self image, also trying to demonstrate its prosperity, benevolence, orderliness to those who may visit the city. Next class Early Renaissance. Florence.