What is the political purpose
of a work of art?
The Bayeux Tapestry
Romanesque Period 1050-1150
1066 Battle of Hastings
Duke Williams II of Normandy
The Bayeux Tapestry (actually an embroidery measuring over
230 feet long and 20 inches wide) describes the Norman invasion of
England and the events that led up to it. It is believed that the Tapestry
was commissioned by Bishop Odo, bishop of Bayeux and the halfbrother of William the Conqueror. The Tapestry contains hundreds of
images divided into scenes each describing a particular event. The
scenes are joined into a linear sequence allowing the viewer to "read"
the entire story starting with the first scene and progressing to the last.
The Tapestry would probably have been displayed in a church
for public view.
History is written by the victors and the Tapestry is above all a
Norman document. In a time when the vast majority of the population
was illiterate, the Tapestry's images were designed to tell the story of
the conquest of England from the Norman perspective. It focuses on
the story of William, making no mention of Hardrada of Norway nor of
Harold's victory at Stamford Bridge.
Ambrogio Lorenzetti
View of the frescoes
Sala dei Nove, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena
1338-40
Ambrogio Lorenzetti's most revolutionary
achievement - one of the most remarkable
accomplishments of the Renaissance - is the
fresco series that lines three walls of the room in
the Palazzo Pubblico where Siena's chief
magistrates, the Nine, held their meetings (Sala
dei Nove).
These frescoes offer an argument about what
constitutes good government. The frescoes
make a further argument about why good
government matters….
Ambrogio Lorenzetti
Allegory of the Good Government
1338-40
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena
Ambrogio
Lorenzetti
Detail:
Allegory of
the Good
Government
1338-40
Palazzo
Pubblico,
Siena
Ambrogio
Lorenzetti
Detail:
Allegory of
the Good
Government
1338-40
Palazzo
Pubblico,
Siena
Detail: Allegory of the Good Government
1338-40
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena
Ambrogio Lorenzetti
detail: Effects of Good Government on the
City Life
1338-40
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena
Ambrogio Lorenzetti
detail: Effects of Good Government on the
City Life
Ambrogio Lorenzetti
detail: Effects of Good Government in the
Countryside
Ambrogio Lorenzetti
detail: Effects of Good Government in the
Countryside
Ambrogio Lorenzetti
detail: Effects of Good Government in the
Countryside
Ambrogio Lorenzetti
detail: Effects of Good Government in the
Countryside
Ambrogio
Lorenzetti
detail: Effects
of Good
Government
in the
Countryside
• Paolo Uccello
• He was fascinated with perspective.
• Thee three scenes from the Battle of San
Romano represent a new, more realistic
way of depicting space—called linear
perspective.
• Linear perspective uses a single vanishing
point.
What is the purpose of these paintings?
They once decorated three walls of a bed
chamber in the Medici Palace—at one
point this bedroom was occupied by
Lorenzo the Magnificent.
Paolo Uccello
Niccolò da Tolentino Leads the Florentine Troops
1450s
Tempera on wood, 182 x 320 cm
National Gallery, London
Detail
Paolo Uccello
Niccolò da Tolentino
Leads the Florentine
Troops
1450s
Paolo Uccello
Bernardino della Ciarda Thrown Off His Horse
1450s
Tempera on wood, 182 x 220 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
Detail
Paolo Uccello
Bernardino della
Ciarda Thrown Off
His Horse
1450s
Detail
Paolo Uccello
Bernardino della
Ciarda Thrown Off
His Horse
1450s
Paolo Uccello
Micheletto da Cotignola Engages in Battle
1450s
Tempera on wood, 180 x 316 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris
Detail
Paolo Uccello
Micheletto da Cotignola Engages in Battle