lecture i" the proto-renaissance (review)
TRANSCRIPT
Introduction: The Proto-Renaissance Styleand International Gothic
Map of Proto-Renaissance Europe, c.1350.
Proto-Renaissance
Dates and Places: • 1300-1400• Northern Italian
Republics (Milan, Mantua, Bologna, Padua, etc. )
People:• Decline in feudalism• Social stability• Little threat of warfare• Thriving trade market• Private patrons
Giotto di Bondone, Enrico Scrovegni dedicating chapel (scene from Arena Chapel), c. 1305. Fresco, 78” x
77.” Padua, Italy.
Florentine Painting
Example: • Fresco program in
family chapel • Pioneer of naturalistic
treatment of figures• Drapery reveals body • Emotional expression• Shallow, illusionistic
space for narrative• Overlapping used to
create illusion of space
Giotto di Bondone, Lamentation (scene from Arena Chapel), c. 1305. Fresco, 78” x
77.” Padua, Italy.
Florentine PaintingExample: • Giotto (1267-1336/7)• Private patron
(Scrovegni)• Style based on
Byzantine and Early Roman frescoes, sculpture of Pisano– Each figure separate
geometric body in three dimensional form
– Naturalistic features– Expressive emotion
Giotto di Bondone, The Crucifixion (scene from Arena Chapel), c. 1305. Fresco, 78” x 77.” Padua,
Italy.
Giotto di Bondone, Arena Chapel left (exterior) and right ( Interior of the Arena Chapel, facing east.) Padua, Italy.
Proto-Renaissance
Example: • Theotokos= “God-bearer”• Marriage of Byzantine and
Gothic elements• Figures have weight• Division of space symbolically
and formally• Influence of Italian architecture
Giotto di Bondone, Madonna Enthroned, ca. 1310. Tempera on panel, 10’8” x
6’8”. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. Fig. 12.10
Proto-Renaissance
Social/Political/Economic:
• Ruling families competing
• Black Death (1348-1350)– Estimated 75-200
million dead– Spread through Silk
Road
Map of Silk Route via land and water.
Sienese Painting
Duccio di Buoninsegna, Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints, 1308–1311. Tempera on panel, Museo dell’ Opera del Duomo. Fig. 12.11.
“Holy Mother of God, be the cause of peace to Siena, and to the life of Duccio because he has painted you thus.
Sienese PaintingExample: • Altarpiece • Theotokos• Wood panels• Civic pride• Cult of the Virgin Mary• Shifting from Italo-
Byzantine to more naturalistic style
• Influence of tapestry industry
• More dynamic posture and fluidity of fabric
Duccio di Buoninsegna, Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints, 1308–
1311. Tempera on panel, Museo dell’ Opera del Duomo. Fig. 12.11.
Proto-Renaissance Example: • Rivals (Florence vs.
Siena)• Italian humanism • Increasing interest in
antiquity and study of Roman sculpture
• Growing naturalism of figures and spaces
• Cimabue = Italo-Byzantine
• Giotto anticipates Renaissance
Left: CIMABUE, Madonna Enthroned with Angels and
Prophets, ca. 1280–1290. Fig. Right: GIOTTO DI BONDONE,
Madonna Enthroned, ca. 1310. Fig. 12.10
Sienese Painting
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, The Allegory of Good and Bad Government, 1338-1340. Fresco, Sale della Pace, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena. Fig. 12.12
Sienese Painting
Example:• Public
commission• Civic content, not
religious• Combines color of
Duccio and naturalism of Giotto
• Allegory of morality
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, The Allegory of Good and Bad Government, 1338-
1340. Fresco, Sale della Pace, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena. Fig. 12.12
Sienese Painting
Example:• Assembly of virtues
rule good government (present are Justice, Wisdom, Pax (relaxes)
• Large, middle figure personification of Siena (hierarchy of images)
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, detail The Allegory of Good and Bad Government, 1338-1340. Fresco, Sale della Pace, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena.
Sienese Painting
Example:• Ambrogio Lorenzetti,
The Common Good of Siena personified and flanked by the Classical Virtues. Romulus and Remus are at his feet. Soldiers lead captive Florentines on the lower right. Ambrogio Lorenzetti, detail The Allegory of
Good and Bad Government, 1338-1340. Fresco, Sale della Pace, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena.
Sienese PaintingExample:• Tyranny sits surrounded by
vices (avarice, pride, and vainglory) in an inversion of the Allegory of Good Government.
• Joining Tyranny in an architecture of war are personifications of treason, cruelty, fraud, fury, war, and divisiveness
• At Tyranny’s feet Justice is shown boundAmbrogio Lorenzetti, detail The Allegory of Good and Bad Government, 1338-1340. Fresco, Sale
della Pace, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena.
Sienese Painting
Example:• Combines color of
Duccio and naturalism of Giotto
• Effects of good government in the city shows people happy, dancing, a good economy
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, detail The Effects of Good Government in the city, from the Siena frescoes 1338-1340. Fresco, Sale della Pace, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena.
Sienese Painting
Example:• City is shown in disarray• Buildings in poor
condition, an atmosphere of fear and violence rules
• Violent acts dominate the scene
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, detail The Effects of Bad Government in the city, from the Siena frescoes
1338-1340. Fresco, Sale della Pace, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena.
International Gothic StyleDates and Places: • mid 13th through mid 14th
centuries• France, Flanders,
Germany, Spain, Bohemia, Austria, England, etc.
• Flourishes within the Proto-Renaissance period
People:• Nobles and merchants• Pious and prosperous• Interested in visible world
Gentile da Fabriano , The Adoration of the Magi, 1423.
Tempera on wood, 80” x 111.” Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
International Gothic Style
Example: • Developed as a result of
common aesthetic of courtly elegance
• Exhibits Gothic influence.• Simone Martini major
contributor to development of style
• Words from Gabriel’s mouth, “Hail favored one! The Lord is with you
• Epitomizes period through lavish costumes, brilliant color, intricate detail and ornamentation
Simone Martini and Lippo Menni, The Annunciation, 1333.
Tempera on panel, 72 ½” x 82 5/8.” Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
International Gothic StyleExample: • Created for Siena Cathedral.• Characteristic of artist’s style is the
work’s elegant shapes, rich color, weightless figures, use of gold and punchwork technique, and fluttering line.
• Simone Martini adapts French Gothic style with Sienese and fuses these with influences from Northern Europe.
• Arch and delicate filigree recall Gothic architecture.
• Themes and decoration appeal to royal courts.
• Use of symbolism– Gold = divinity– Lilies=Mary’s purity
Simone Martini and Lippo Menni, The Annunciation, 1333.
Tempera on panel, 72 ½” x 82 5/8.” Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
Northern Europe
Dates and Places: • 1400 to 1500• Burgundy, Flanders,
France and the Holy Roman Empire
People:• Nobles and merchants• Pious and prosperous• Interested in visible world Claus Sluter, Well of Moses,
from the Chartreuse de Champmol, 1395–1406. Stone,
height of figures approx. 6’. Fig. 13.1.
Northern Europe
Example: • Originally known as The
Great Cross (now lost)• Monument in Carthusian
cloister housing remains of Philip the Bold and family
• Old Testament Prophets • New Testament• Naturalistic style break
with medieval style• Expressionistic angels
Claus Sluter, Well of Moses, from the Chartreuse de
Champmol, 1395–1406. Stone, height of figures approx. 6’.
Fig. 13.1.
International Gothic Style
Themes:• Mix of religious and political• Personal aggrandizement • Feudalism
Forms:• Joins French Gothic with 14th
century Italian naturalism• Book of Prayers= private,
devotional use• Mix of religious piety with
astronomy and astrology• Division of classes
Limbourg Brothers, Les Trés Riches Heires du Duc de Berry, calendar
miniature for July, 1413-1416. Illumination on vellum, 8 7/8” x 5 3/8.” Musée Condé, Chantilly, France. Fig.
13.2
International Gothic Style
Example:• Extremely detailed
– Possible inspiration for Northern Renaissance (especially Flemish)
• Observed from nature• Caricature of poor
Limbourg Brothers, Les Trés Riches Heires du Duc de Berry, calendar miniature for February, 1413-1416. Illumination on vellum, 8 7/8” x 5
3/8.” Musée Condé, Chantilly, France.