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Soaring to New Heights
The Renaissance in Italy
Today: The Proto-Renaissance, the Black
Death, and the International Gothic Style
SIENA and FLORENCE
Guelfs and Ghibellines
Two opposing factions in German and Italian politics
during the Middle Ages were the Guelfs (Siena) and
Ghibellines (Florence). The split between the Guelfs, who
were sympathetic to the papacy, and the Ghibellines,
who were sympathetic to the German (Holy Roman)
emperors, contributed to chronic strife within the cities
of northern Italy in the 13th and 14th centuries. The
eventual conquest of the Ghibellines—and the inability of
Siena to compete with Florence as a commercial and
banking city.
CIMABUE
c. 1240 – c. 1300
Cimabue's style provided the firm foundation upon which rested the
art of Giotto and Duccio in the 14th century, although he was
superseded in his own lifetime by these artists, both of whom he
had influenced and perhaps trained. His great contemporary,
Dante, recognized the importance of Cimabue and placed him at
the forefront of Italian painters.
Art historiographers from the 14th century to the present have
recognized the art and career of Cimabue as the dividing line
between the old and the new traditions in western European
painting.
Crucifix - Cimabue 1268-71 - Tempera on wood, 336 x 267 cm
San Domenico, Arezzo
Cimabue - The Madonna in Majesty (Maestà)
1285-86
Tempera on panel, 385 x 223 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
DUCCIO
13th century – c. 1319
One of the greatest Italian painters of the Middle Ages
and the founder of the Sienese school. In Duccio's art the
formality of the Italo-Byzantine tradition, strengthened by
a clearer understanding of its evolution from classical
roots, is fused with the new spirituality of the Gothic style,
that would heavily influence the later International Gothic
Style.
Rucellai Madonna – Duccio - 1285 - Tempera on wood, 450 x 290 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
(LEFT) Duccio detail
--
(RIGHT) Cimabue detail
Duccio – Annunciation - 1308-11 - Tempera on wood, 43 x 44 cm - National Gallery, London
Duccio - Adoration of
the Magi - 1308-11
Tempera on wood,
42,5 x 43,5 cm - Museo
dell'Opera del Duomo,
Siena
Duccio - Crucifix (detail) 1308-11 - Tempera on wood
Museo dell'Opera del
Duomo, Siena
(LEFT) Duccio detail
--
(RIGHT) Cimabue detail
Duccio - Death of the Virgin - 1308-11
Tempera on wood, 40 x 45,5 cm - Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Siena
GIOTTO
1266 - 1337
The most important Italian painter of the 14th century,
whose works point to the innovations of the
Renaissance style that developed a century later. For
almost seven centuries Giotto has been revered as the
father of European painting and the first of the great
Italian masters. He is believed to have been a pupil of
the Florentine painter Cimabue and to have decorated
chapels in Assisi, Rome, Padua, Florence, and Naples
with frescoes and panel paintings in tempera. Because
little of his life and few of his works are documented,
attributions and a stylistic chronology of his paintings
remain problematic and often highly speculative.
The Arena Chapel viewed
from the entrance
1303-06
The individual scenes are
composed in such a way
that each stands as a
picture in its own right, and
yet each contains an
impetus which passes from
story to story in succession.
Frescoes in the Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel),
Padua
Scenes from the Life of Joachim
(Saint Joachim was the husband of Saint Anne and the
father of the Virgin Mary, and therefore is ascribed the
title of "forebear of God". )
Giotto - Scenes
from the Life of
Joachim:
Joachim among
the Shepherds
1304-06
Fresco, 200 x
185 cm
Cappella
Scrovegni
(Arena Chapel),
Padua
Giotto - Scenes from the Life of Joachim: Joachim's Dream - 1304-06
Fresco, 200 x 185 cm - Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua
Giotto - Scenes
from the Life of
Joachim:
Meeting at the
Golden Gate
1304-06
Frescoes in the Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel),
Padua
Scenes from the Life of the Virgin
Giotto Scenes from
the Life of the
Virgin: The
Angel Gabriel
Sent by God
1306
Fresco, 150 x
195 cm
Cappella
Scrovegni
(Arena
Chapel),
Padua
Giotto - Scenes
from the Life of
the Virgin: The
Virgin Receiving
the Message
1306
Fresco, 150 x 195
cm
Cappella
Scrovegni (Arena
Chapel), Padua
Giotto (LEFT)
–
Duccio (RIGHT)
Frescoes in the Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel),
Padua
Scenes from the Life of Christ
Giotto - Scenes
from the Life of
Christ :
Nativity: Birth
of Jesus
1304-06
Fresco, 200 x
185 cm
Cappella
Scrovegni
(Arena Chapel),
Padua
Giotto - Scenes from
the Life of Christ :
Adoration of the
Magi
1304-06 - Fresco,
200 x 185 cm
Cappella Scrovegni
(Arena Chapel),
Padua
Giotto - Scenes from
the Life of Christ :
Flight into Egypt
1304-06 - Fresco, 200
x 185 cm
Cappella Scrovegni
(Arena Chapel), Padua
Giotto - Scenes from
the Life of Christ :
Massacre of the
Innocents
1304-06 - Fresco,
200 x 185 cm
Cappella Scrovegni
(Arena Chapel),
Padua
Giotto - Scenes
from the Life of
Christ : Last
Supper
1304-06 - Fresco,
200 x 185 cm
Cappella Scrovegni
(Arena Chapel),
Padua
Giotto - Crucifixion
Scrovegni Chapel,
Padua
c. 1305
Giotto – Crucifixion
DETAIL
Scrovegni Chapel,
Padua
c. 1305
(LEFT) Giotto detail
--
(RIGHT) Duccio detail
Frescoes in the Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel),
Padua
Last Judgement
Giotto – Last Judgment - 1304-06
Fresco, 200 x 185 cm
Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel)
Giotto – Last Judgment - 1304-06 - Fresco, 200 x 185 cm, Arena Chapel, Padua
Giotto – Last Judgment - 1304-06 - Fresco, 200 x 185 cm, Arena Chapel, Padua
SIMONE MARTINI
c. 1284 – 1344
Important exponent of Gothic painting who did more
than any other artist to spread the influence of Sienese
painting. Very possibly a pupil of Duccio di
Buoninsegna, from whom he probably inherited his love
of harmonious, pure colors and most of his early figural
types. To these he added a gracefulness of line and
delicacy of interpretation that were inspired by works
based on the French Gothic style, which the young artist
studied in Italy. Martini would have an enormous
influence on the later International Gothic Style.
Simone Martini - St. Martin (of
Tours) is Knighted - 1312-17
Fresco, 265 x 200 cm
Cappella di San Martino, Lower
Church, San Francesco, Assisi
Simone Martini - Saint
Martin Renounces his
Weapons
1312-17
Fresco, 265 x 230 cm
Cappella di San Martino,
Lower Church, San
Francesco, Assisi
Simone Martini - The Dream of St.
Martin
1312-17
Fresco, 265 x 200 cm
Cappella di San Martino, Lower
Church, San Francesco, Assisi
Simone Martini - Miraculous Mass
1312-17
Fresco, 390 x 200 cm
Cappella di San Martino, Lower Church,
San Francesco, Assisi
Simone Martini - Miracle
of Fire
1312-17
Fresco, 296 x 230 cm
Cappella di San Martino,
Lower Church, San
Francesco, Assisi
Simone Martini - The Death of St.
Martin - 1312-17
Fresco, 284 x 230 cm
Cappella di San Martino, Lower
Church, San Francesco, Assisi
Simone Martini - Burial
of St Martin
1312-17
Fresco, 284 x 230 cm
Cappella di San Martino,
Lower Church, San
Francesco, Assisi
AMBROGIO LORENZETTI
1285 - 1348
Artist who ranks in importance with the greatest of the
Italian Sienese painters, Duccio and Simone Martini. Only six
documented works of Ambrogio, apparently covering a
period of merely 13 years, have survived. One of the most
remarkable accomplishments of the period is the “Good and
Bad Governments” fresco series that lines three walls of the
room in Siena’s Palazzo Pubblico.
Frescoes of Good and Bad
Government
Ambrogio's task was unprecedented, for he was called upon
to paint allegorical depictions of good and bad government
and to represent the effects such regimes would have in the
town and the country. The result is the first panoramic
city/countryscape since antiquity, and the first expansive
portrait we have of an actual city and landscape. Ambrogio
chose the best-illuminated walls for Good Government and
its effects, leaving Bad Government in the shadows on a wall
that has also suffered considerable damage.
Ambrogio Lorenzetti - View of the frescoes - 1338-40 - Fresco
Sala dei Nove, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena
Allegory of the Good
Government (left view,
detail)
1338-40
Fresco
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena
Effects of Good Government on the City Life (detail)
1338-40 – Fresco - Palazzo Pubblico, Siena
Effects of Good Government on the City Life (detail)
1338-40 – Fresco - Palazzo Pubblico, Siena
Effects of Good Government on the City Life (detail)
1338-40 – Fresco - Palazzo Pubblico, Siena
Effects of Good Government on the City Life (detail)
1338-40 – Fresco - Palazzo Pubblico, Siena
Effects of Good Government on the Countryside (detail)
1338-40 - Fresco - Palazzo Pubblico, Siena
Allegory of Bad Government
1338-40
Fresco
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena
Effects of Bad Government on the City Life (detail)
1338-40
Fresco
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena
Effects of Bad Government on the Countryside (detail)
1338-40 – Fresco - Palazzo Pubblico, Siena
GIOVANNI PISANO
c. 1250 – after 1314
Sometimes called the only true Gothic sculptor in Italy—
he ultimately is viewed as a Proto-Renaissance artist. He
began his career under the classicist influence of his
father, Nicola, and carried on this tradition after his
father's death, continuously reintegrating the antique
style into more northerly and contemporary Gothic
forms. He would be a great inspiration for later sculptors
such as Donatello and Michelangelo.
Giovanni Pisano - Pulpit
1260 - 1301 Marble, height: 465 cm
Baptistry, Pisa
Giovanni Pisano - Pulpit
detail – Massacre of the Innocents – ca. 1301
Marble, height: 465 cm - Baptistry, Pisa
Giovanni Pisano - Pulpit
detail – Flight Into Egypt – ca.
1301
Marble, height: 465 cm Baptistry, Pisa
Giovanni Pisano – Crucifixion - 1302-10 - Marble
Cathedral, Pisa
Giovanni Pisano
Madonna and Child
1305-06
Marble, height: 129 cm
Cappella Scrovegni (Arena
Chapel), Padua
JACOPO DELLA QUERCIA
1374 – 1448
One of the most original Italian sculptors of the early
15th century. His best works give a sense of depth
associated with the paintings of Masaccio (his
contemporary)—whom we will look at next week. Jacopo
was a mysterious and ambivalent artist, but he carried
Sienese sculpture to its height and influenced
subsequent Sienese painters, as well as the young
Michelangelo.
Jacopo della Quercia
Acca Laurentia
1414 - 1419
Marble
Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Italy
Jacopo della Quercia
Zacharias in the Temple
1428 - 1430
Gilt bronze relief
23 1/2 x 23 1/2 inches (60 x
60 cm)
Baptistry, Siena, Italy
Jacopo della Quercia
Expulsion of Adam and Eve
from the Paradise
c. 1435
Marble, 99 x 92 cm (with
frame)
San Petronio, Bologna
The Black Death
First outbreak: 1347-50
One of the worst disasters in
human history—killing an
estimated 34 million people.
So…what happened next?
THE INTERNATIONAL GOTHIC STYLE
The style of European art prevalent during the last half of
the 14th century and the early years of the 15th century.
There were features common to European art, in general. In
particular, figures were elegant and graceful – and had a
certain artificiality. A taste did grow for realism in detail,
general setting, and composition. The internationalism of
the style owes to the fact that much of the most important
work was executed under court patronage, and most
European royal families were closely linked by marriage
ties. Local idiosyncracies, however, did persist. The main
European courts were those of the Holy Roman emperors.
LORENZO MONACO
c. 1370 – c. 1425
Italian painter (from Siena) in the International Gothic
style whose work combined the rhythmic, graceful flow
of line and decorative feeling of the Sienese school
with the Florentine traditions of the followers of Giotto.
Monaco’s feeling for decorative composition,
expressive line and mature design are hallmarks of the
style.
The Nativity, 1409 - Lorenzo Monaco - Tempera on panel; 8 3/8 x 12 1/4
in. (21.4 x 31.2 cm) - Metropolitan Museum of Art - Robert Lehman
Collection, 1975 (1975.1.66)
Lorenzo Monaco - Incidents in the Life of Saint Benedict
1407-9 - National Gallery London
Lorenzo Monaco
Cut-out Crucifix (detail)
1410s
Tempera on wood, 146 x
84 cm
Museum of Fine Arts,
Budapest
(LEFT) Monaco detail
--
(RIGHT) Duccio detail
Lorenzo Monaco
The Annunciation
1410-15
Tempera on panel
Galleria dell'Accademia,
Florence
(LEFT) Monaco detail
--
(RIGHT) Duccio detail
GENTILE DA FABRIANO
c. 1370 – 1427
Foremost painter of central Italy at the beginning of the
15th century, whose few surviving works are among the
finest examples of the International Gothic style. His
surviving masterpiece, the Adoration of the Magi, was
completed in 1423 for the Church of Santa Trinità, in
Florence. Its graceful figures are clothed in velvets and
rich brocades, and the Magi are attended by Oriental
retainers, who look after such exotic animals as lions and
camels. Its delicate linearity and vibrant colours enhance
the effect of rich exoticism. The decorativeness of its
elegant, courtly style continued to influence Florentine
artists throughout the fifteenth century.
Gentile de Fabriano
Virgin and Child with
Sts Nicholas and
Cathrine
c. 1405
Tempera on panel
Staatliche Museen,
Berlin
Gentile de Fabriano - The Adoration of the Magi - 1422; Tempera on wood panel; Uffizi
Gentile de Fabriano
The Adoration of the
Magi (detail)
1422; Tempera on
wood panel; Uffizi
Gentile de Fabriano
The Adoration of the
Magi (detail)
1422; Tempera on
wood panel; Uffizi
NEXT WEEK’S PRESENTATION:
The Emergence of a New
Cultural Identity:
Cosimo de’Medici
Early Italian Humanism
The Artists of the Early Renaissance