Giotto and other early Italian Renaissance artists like Duccio and Lorenzetti moved painting away from the flat Byzantine style towards realistic three-dimensional naturalism through techniques like foreshortening and realistic proportions. Giotto's frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel showing biblical scenes with complex emotions helped establish him as the father of modern European painting. Duccio and Simone Martini combined Byzantine elements with Italian trends towards realism, creating works with elegant lines and refined colors.

1. Sandrine Le Bail AP Art History
Precursors of the Renaissance
Gothic Art in Italy
13th -14th century

2. 13th century in France ?

3. Gothic

4. What about Italy?

5. Italy in the 11 -12th century
- Byzantine
influence
(Venise and
Ravenna)

6. North Italy c.1300

7. Italy 13-14th century
• Creation of a banking system
• Commercial interests in Italy
• Shipment and circulation of goods
• Florence: importance for textile

8. New Approach of Art
• New status for artists (we know their name
and biography)
• Guild system (since Middle Age)
– Regulation of the market
– Organization of apprenticeships
Arte della Lana (Wool manufacturers and merchants)

9. Patrons
• Religious Orders, in particular the preaching
orders of friars (Franciscans and Dominicans)
• Civic or corporate group
• Wealthy individual
Commission sealed by legal contract.

10. Training an Artist
Long period of practice
• Early teens – enter in the Master’s workshop
1) Mixed paint / prepared pigments and
painting surface
2) Worked to less important part of the
master’s composition
3) Opened their own shop – entered the guild
as mature artists and full members

11. Important artists you HAVE to know
for the AP Exam
Duecento (13th century)
• Arnolfo di Cambio
• Nicola Pisano
• Cimabue
Trecento (14th century)
• Giotto
• Duccio
• Simone Martini
• Ambrogio Lorenzetti

12. Gothic Architecture in Italy

13. Arnolfo di Cambio, Florence Cathedral,
begun 1296
Façade, completed in the 19th
century
Campanile by Giotto
Dome by Brunelleschi,
1436
150 years to complete

15. Wide
Open
Light

16. Florence Cathedral, begun 1296 Amiens Cathedral, 1220- 1288

17. Gothic Architecture in Italy
• Stress width as well as height
• Interior: one story arches and a second of
window
• Wide naves
• Apses backlit by tall window
• Clearly articulated rib vaults

18. Duecento : 13th century
Nicola Pisano and Cimabue

19. Nicola Pisano
(active c.1258 – before 1284)
• Sculptor
• From South Italy
• Trained at the court of Frederick II
• 1250 – Moved to Tuscany
• Worked in Pisa

20. Niccola Pisano

21. Nicola Pisano,
pulpit, Pisa
Baptistery,
1259-1260
Pulpit: a raised place in a
church, with steps leading up
to it, from which a priest
speaks.

22. Nicola Pisano,
pulpit, Pisa
Baptistery,
1259-1260
- 5 panels circle around the
elevated pulpit
- Gothic Corinthian capital
- Trilobed arches

23. Nicolas Pisano, relief of the Nativity,
Pulpit, Pisa Baptistery, 1259-1260

24. Nicolas Pisano, relief of the Nativity,
Pulpit, Pisa Baptistery, 1259-1260
Annunciation
Annunciation to the
shepherds
Nativity
Washing of the Infant Jesus

25. Nicolas Pisano, relief of the Nativity,
Pulpit, Pisa Baptistery, 1259-1260
• Crowded composition
• Communication between
the figure (gesture and
facial expression)
• Reminiscent of the imperial
Roman Reliefs
– Draperies
– Organic, three dimensional
movements of the figures
– Massive figures
– Horror Vacui

26. Giovanni
Pisano, The
Pisa Pulpit,
Pisa
Cathedral,
1302-1310
Nicola’s son

27. Giovanni Pisano, Nativity, The Pisa
Pulpit, 1302-1310

28. Pisano Senior
vs
Pisano Junior

29. Pisano Senior
vs
Pisano Junior
- Giovanni’s composition is less
static, more dynamic
- More deeply cut – more shadow
- Inspired by French Gothic models
more than Roman one

30. Cimabue
Florence

31. Cimabue,
Madonna
Enthroned,
c.1280-1290
3.84 X 2.24 m
12ft 7 in. X 7ft.4 in.
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

32. Homonculus

33. Byzantine
influence
Maniera Greca
- Gold Background
- Hieratic and flat Figures
- Draperies
- Proportions
- No material reality
4 Prophets from the Old Testament

34. Trecento : 14th century
Giotto
Duccio
Lorenzetti

35. Giotto di Bondone
Florence

36. Giotto di Bondone (c.1267-1337)
• Considered the father of modern European
painting
• Born in Tuscany (Mugello Valley)
• Trained under Cimabue
• Learned about Pietro Cavallini and Nicolo
Pisano
• Lived in Florence
• Appeared in the Divina Commedia

37. Giotto, Madonna
Enthroned,
c.1310
Painted for the Florentine church of
All Saints

40. Similarities:
- Tempera on panel
- Altarpieces
- Golden Background
- Iconography
- Gothic Throne
Differences
- Realistic depth
- Realistic volume
- Three dimensions
- Mary is the symbol of the church

41. The Arena Chapel / Scrovegni Chapel
1305-1306
- Padua (Northern Italy)
Important university and
humanism revival center
- Patron: Enrico Scrovegni
to expiate the sin of
usury through which his
father became rich
- Simple architecture
- Inside : 40 major fresco
paintings

42. The Arena Chapel / Scrovegni Chapel
1305-1306

43. The Arena
Chapel /
Scrovegni
Chapel
1305-1306

44. The Arena Chapel / Scrovegni Chapel
1305-1306
Last Judgment
Stories from the life of
Mary, her parents Anna
and Zacaria and Jesus
Virtues and
Vices

45. Chancel Arch
Annunciation
2 illusionistic Chapels

46. Annunciation

47. Annunciation
• Illusionistic architectural elements
• Three-dimensional
• Like a stage (architecture small compared to
figures)
• The “4th wall” doesn’t exist
• Solid , sculpturesque
figures

48. Crucifixion

49. S. John
Virgin Mary
Mary Magdalen
Mourning
Angels
Longinus
Soldiers
haggle over
Jesus’s cloak

50. Different degrees of foreshortening

52. Last
Judgment

56. Enrico Scrovegni
presents the
church
to Mary and 2
other Saints
Presence of the
Patron
Typical of
Renaissance

57. Virtue of Justice and Vice of Injustice

58. The Arena Chapel / Scrovegni Chapel
1305-1306
• Patron depicted in the work
• Naturalism and realistic emotions of the figures
• Great range of human emotions
• Solid figures
• Volume (created with light and shade)
• Clear compositions and realistic space depicted in
each scene
• Stage-like setting that make each scene appear to
be a heavenly drama

59. Giotto, Basilica of S.Francesco Assisi,
1295-1299

60. Giotto’s tomb in Florence cathedral
“ I am the man who brought painting to life…
whatever is found in nature
may be found in my art”

61. Siena
Republic

62. 2 centers of power in Siena
Siena Cathedral - (1215- 1263)
Palazzo Pubblico, begin in 1297

63. Duccio di Buoninsegna
(active 1278-1218)
Siena

64. Duccio,
Rucellai
Madonna,
1285
4.52 X 2.90 m
Commissioned for a Dominican
confraternity

65. Duccio, Maestà, 1308-1311
• Altarpiece of
the Cathedral
of Siena
• Tempera on
wood
• Two sides
• 50 panels
dismantled
(some lost)
Virtual
Reconstruction

67. Duccio, Maestà, 1308-1311

68. Duccio, Maestà, 1308-1311
• Only signed and documented work of Duccio
to have survived
• Richest and most complex altarpiece of its
time
• Strong Byzantine influence
• Hieratic arrangement of the figures in 3
horizontal registers
• Fluttering, light drapery lines falls in zigzag
patterns

69. Duccio, Kiss of Judas, from the Maestà,
1308-1311

70. Duccio, Kiss of Judas, from the Maestà,
1308-1311
• Densely packed
• Illusion of depth
• 3-dimensional
• Subtle shading of the
drapery
• Great range of expressions
• Elegance of the drapery

71. Duccio vs Giotto

72. At the base of Mary’s throne
“Holy Mother of God,
be the cause of Peace to Siena,
and of life to Duccio
because he painted you thus”.

73. Duccio di Buoninsegna
(active 1278-1218)
• Leader of the Sienese style of painting
• Still rooted in the Byzantine style
• Combines byzantine style with the Florentine
styles of Giotto and Cimabue with a lyrical
expressiveness unique to Siena
• Refined sense of color
• Interest in realistic space

74. Ambrogio Lorenzetti
Siena

75. Palazzo Pubblico of Siena
Best example of
secular Gothic
architecture
Commissioned by the
government of Siena
Housed government
offices as well as the
residences of the
nine councilors
(elected for 2
months)

76. Palazzo Pubblico’s Hall of the Nine =
Sala della Pace
Room where the council members met

77. Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Effects of the
Good Government, Palazzo Pubblico of
Siena, 1338-1339
1st secular commission since the fall of
the Roman Empire

78. Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Effects of the
Good Government, Palazzo Pubblico of
Siena, 1338-1339

81. Advantages of the good Government:
Craft and trade New constructions Education Food Supplies

82. Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Effects of the
Good Government, Palazzo Pubblico of
Siena, 1338-1339

83. Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Allegory of the
Good Government, Palazzo Pubblico of
Siena, 1338-1339

84. Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Allegory of the
Good Government, Palazzo Pubblico of
Siena, 1338-1339
Wisdom
Justice
Concordia
Common Good
PeaceFortitude
Prudence
Temperance
Magnanimity
Justice
Charity

85. Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Effects of the
Bad Government, Palazzo Pubblico of
Siena, 1338-1339

86. Architecture of war
Tyranny
Avarice
Pride
Vainglory
Justice

89. Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Effects of the
Good and Bad Government, Palazzo
Pubblico of Siena, 1338-1339
• 1st secular fresco since Antiquity / shift in
patronage
• 1st landscape painted since Antiquity
• Purpose of the entire cycle:
– Remind the elected officials of their duties to the
citizens of Siena
– Emphasize the value of a stable republican
government in Siena
– Intimate the importance of religion

90. Disasters of the 14th century
• Famine (1329)
• Floods
• Epidemies (chickenpox, Plague)
• Banks bankrupts
(between 50 to 70% of the population of Florence
and Siena died)
Consequence
Pause in the artistic innovations

91. International Gothic Style
Italy and France
14th century

92. Characteristics of the International
Gothic
• Wealthy patrons (most of them French)
• French architectural motifs such as the
pointed arch
• Increased realism in figures
• Emphasis on fluid form
• Elegance

93. Simone Martini, Annunciation, 1331-
1333
Commissioned for the Cathedral of Siena

94. Simone Martini, Annunciation, 1331-
1333
Lilies = symbol of purity
Palm = symbol of
Christ’s death
Olive tree branch
Message of the angel
Prophets

95. Simone Martini, Annunciation, 1331-
1333
• Perspective
(marble floor)
• Taste for elongated
forms and delicate
details
• S-Shape of Mary
• Gabriel’s fluttering
• Abundance of gold
• Elaborate features
• Elegant figures,
drapery and
ornament

96. Conclusion
• Giotto and Duccio are the principal founders
of Western European painting
• Naturalistic impulse
• Florentine artists concentrated on mass and
solidity, using shadowing to create the
suggestion of the 3rd dimension
• Sienese artists are closer to French gothic:
thin, elegant, aristocratic and decorative