Janson, Chapter 13: Art in Thirteenth- and Fourteenth-Century Italy
Absence of strong central authority → cities (urban elites) controlled regions. French
Gothic, Roman, Early chris and Byz style all added to vocab of It artists.
Petrarch: growing interest in the creative works of individuals. Emulation of Vergil and Cicero.
Humanism: Study of ancient art → search for moral clarity and models of behaviour.
The Growth of the Mendicant Orders and the Visual Arts in Italy
Franciscans and Dominicans: supported themselves through alms. Founded to minister to the
lay population: engaged with world rather than retreating from it.
The Franciscans at Assisi and Florence: Franciscus died in 1226. Huge church was built in
Assisi, consecrated in 1253. Built to accommodate many pilgrims: first a big hall: Upper Church,
before descending into a church below. Relatively large expanses of wall. Pointed arches and a
brick vault cover the nave, but not spatially complex (no aisles). Frescoes depicting Bible and
Francesco’s life. St. Francis preaching to the Birds, 1290: Veneration of nature. Simplicity and
naturalistic style.
Franciscan nuns belong to the orde of St. Clare: convent of Santa Chiara, Altarpiece of St.
Clare, 1280: tempera on panel. Frontal pose and staring eyes. Narratives of her life in
vignettes → figure of saintly authority.
Churches and their furnishings in urban centers: Franciscan churches were appearing to guide
city dwellers spiritually. Santa Croce, Florence, 1295: Form of a basilica, but the eastern
end is mostly rectilinear. Only the apse is polygonal. Simplified design probably
comes from monastic churches. Broad nave with a Gothic pointed arch in the
arcade. No vault, but wooden trussers (beams) span the nave. Wooden roof, board
nave with high arches is also reminiscent of early Chris churches → evoke simplicity
of earlier times.
Pulpits in Pisan Churches: Monumental pulpits with narrative carved into it. Nicola and son
Giovanni Pisano, Pulpit, Baptistery Pisa, 1259: Hexagonal, 4.5m high. Colored marble columns
and classically inspired capitals. Fortitude: Chris virtue. Heroic nudity and contrapposto stance:
informed by Roman past. Scenes from the life of Christ, carved in relief. Nativity: crowded
composition. Figure of virgin reflects knowledge of Byz tradition. Broad figures in classicizing
drapery. Giovanni’s Nativity, 1302-10: dwells on the landscape and the animals. Virgin still
dominates, but is no longer a dignified matron, but a young mother watching her child.
Elongated proportions, with more comfortable figures. More made up of shadows, less solid.
Expanding Florence Cathedral: Begun in 1296, Duomo was intended to be a grand structure
that would serve as spiritual center and as a statement of city’s wealth and importance. Arnolfo
di Cambio was the original designer. Very high nave arcade, resting on piers. Relatively small
windows in clerestory. No tall western towers, like in Fr Gothic, but separate campaniles.
Andrea Pisano, bronze doors in baptistery, 1330-36: 28 vignettes in quatrefoils. Scenes from life
of John the Baptist. Relief of Jesus’ baptism: clear composition with Jesus and key figures
surrounding him. Clear main narrative with only a few decorative elements.
,Building for the City Government: The Palazzo della Signoria: Pro-papal party (Guelphs)
consolidated its power in the city and wanted to contain the aristo families that supported the
emperor (Ghibellines). Palazzo della Signoria (Vecchio), 1298, was to serve as a symbol of
political independence. Thick stone walls and heavy battlements. Rusticated stones
(rough and uneven) → appearance of greater strength. Symbol of civic pride but
also serves as a defensive structure.
Painting in Tuscany
Ties to Rom and Byz past would inspire It painters to render forms in more naturalistic and
monumental images. Byz: ‘Greek manner’. Vasari thought that Byz art influenced It painting a
lot, and that ME It painting was virtually nonexistent.
Cimabue and Giotto: Cimabue of Florence painted Madonna Enthroned 1280-90: large scale
(3.5m) altarpiece as devotional focus of church. Like in Byz style, linear gold elements are used,
but not to make abstract patterns. Light becomes a network of lines.
Giotto di Bondone: Madonna Enthroned, 1310: Also in blue against a gold background.
Huge scale. Gradual movement of light into dark → more 3d. Less linear than
Cimabue. Suggestion of space by using archi throne. Innovative ideas of light and
space.
The Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel in Padua, 1305-06: Giotto had a gift for storytelling. One room
hall covered with a barrel vault. Entirely painted. Walls are divided into three registers:
horizontal rows, which contain narrative scenes. Christ entering Jerusalem, 1305-06: Event
takes place in the foreground, close to the viewer. Strong 3d quality.Large simple
forms and limited depth → spatial coherence. Isolation and dignity → solemn air to
painting. Matching of composition and meaning. The Lamentation, 1305-06: Last farewell
between Jesus and his family adn friends (does not appear in the Gospels). Tragic mood is
created by expressions, gestures and low center of gravity. Simple setting heightens the
dramatic impact.
Siena: Devotion to Mary in Works by Duccio and Simone: Duccio di Buoninsegna of Siena
directed a workshop in Siena, which competed with Florence on many fronts. Virgin Mary as
protector and patron. Republic directed by the Nove, chosen from urban elite. Palazzo Publico,
begun 1298, as city government and to frame a public space. Points to rivalry with Florence
(likeness to Palazzo della Signoria). Many more windows and more ornamental facade.
Maestà Altar, Duccio, 1308-11: large altarpiece in Siena Cathedral. Polyptych with Madonna on
complex throne in the middle in deep blue (only for the Virgin). Somewhat in Greek manner
(lines to make shapes, rather than shading), but more relaxed draperies and undulating
softness. Byz style reflected in the use of ancient illusionism, but also Gothic sensibilities in the
fluidity of the drapery and naturalness of the figures.
Maestà Altar, Annunciation of the Death of the Virgin, 1308-11: Two figures enclosed in archi
space. Enframed separately, archi as space-creating function.
,Duccio includes detailed archi elements and many figures: Christ entering Jerusalem, Maestà
Altar, 1308-11. More complete description of the event than Giotto, who stressed the
psychology of the moment more.
Simone Martini, trained by Duccio. Annunciation, 1330: to complement Maestà. Triptych with a
Gothic frame. Mary responds with surprise and pulls away from him. Narrative reduced to
simplest form, but lyrical elegance that lifts them into the spiritual realm.
Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti: More down-to-earth approach: Birth of the Virgin, 1342:
Triptych altarpiece by Pietro Lorenzetti. Painted archi matches archi of the frame →
single system. Figures have mass and depth.
Good and bad government: Ambrogio Lorenzetti was hired by the Nove to paint an allegory
(=moralizing narrative) for Palazzo Publico. Allegory of Good Government, 1338-40: Assembly
fo figures personifying virtues, who flank a central figure of the Common Good. Ambrogio
makes an archi portrait of Siena. Bustling city, with Good Government in the Country outside of
the walls: provides scenes of Sienese farmers, overseen by figure of Security.
Artists and Patrons in Times of Crisis: Beginning of 14th: peace ans stability in Siena
and Florence. 1340s: warfare, famine and bubonic plague. Often seen as signs of
divine wrath → intensified interest in religion. For others → fear of death intensified
desire to enjoy life.
Camposanto: cemetery building next to Pisa cathedral: series of frescoes: variety of respondes
to death. Triumph of Death, 1325-50: asserts that death comes to all. Harsh and expressive
forms. Many painters probably died. The number of tombs and funeral masses rose.
Santa Maria Novella: Dominican. Chapel served as a meeting room and was painted with
frescoes expressing role of Doms in struggle for salvation: Andrea da Firenze, The Way of
Salvation, 1365-67: Depicts Dom lifestyle. Groups are preaching and converting heretics.
Symmetry and order reveal didactic function: legibility rather than illusion. Disasters of 14th
were overcome in Florence, which flourished as cultural center in 15th.
Northern Italy
Venice enjoyed political stability in 14th. Doge was elected from closed-off group of
merchant oligarchy. Stable → less defensive archi.
Venice: Political Stability and Sumptuous Architecture: Airy and open palace design. Doge’s
Palace was enlarged in 1340. Open at the base and weight of stories resting on arcades.
Ornamental quality
Milan: The Visconti Family and Northern Influences: Closer relationship to Gothic Fr. Visconti
were among great families of Eur through marriages. Authoritarian nature of Visconti rule visible
in tomb of Bernabò Visconti, 1363: Sarcophagus which supports an equestrian statue. Bernabò
is rigid and formal.
, His cousins, Giangaleazzo, Book of Hours, 1395: By Giovannino dei Grassi, features personal
representations and references to the duke. Realism, splendor and increasingly complex
imagery.
Absence of strong central authority → cities (urban elites) controlled regions. French
Gothic, Roman, Early chris and Byz style all added to vocab of It artists.
Petrarch: growing interest in the creative works of individuals. Emulation of Vergil and Cicero.
Humanism: Study of ancient art → search for moral clarity and models of behaviour.
The Growth of the Mendicant Orders and the Visual Arts in Italy
Franciscans and Dominicans: supported themselves through alms. Founded to minister to the
lay population: engaged with world rather than retreating from it.
The Franciscans at Assisi and Florence: Franciscus died in 1226. Huge church was built in
Assisi, consecrated in 1253. Built to accommodate many pilgrims: first a big hall: Upper Church,
before descending into a church below. Relatively large expanses of wall. Pointed arches and a
brick vault cover the nave, but not spatially complex (no aisles). Frescoes depicting Bible and
Francesco’s life. St. Francis preaching to the Birds, 1290: Veneration of nature. Simplicity and
naturalistic style.
Franciscan nuns belong to the orde of St. Clare: convent of Santa Chiara, Altarpiece of St.
Clare, 1280: tempera on panel. Frontal pose and staring eyes. Narratives of her life in
vignettes → figure of saintly authority.
Churches and their furnishings in urban centers: Franciscan churches were appearing to guide
city dwellers spiritually. Santa Croce, Florence, 1295: Form of a basilica, but the eastern
end is mostly rectilinear. Only the apse is polygonal. Simplified design probably
comes from monastic churches. Broad nave with a Gothic pointed arch in the
arcade. No vault, but wooden trussers (beams) span the nave. Wooden roof, board
nave with high arches is also reminiscent of early Chris churches → evoke simplicity
of earlier times.
Pulpits in Pisan Churches: Monumental pulpits with narrative carved into it. Nicola and son
Giovanni Pisano, Pulpit, Baptistery Pisa, 1259: Hexagonal, 4.5m high. Colored marble columns
and classically inspired capitals. Fortitude: Chris virtue. Heroic nudity and contrapposto stance:
informed by Roman past. Scenes from the life of Christ, carved in relief. Nativity: crowded
composition. Figure of virgin reflects knowledge of Byz tradition. Broad figures in classicizing
drapery. Giovanni’s Nativity, 1302-10: dwells on the landscape and the animals. Virgin still
dominates, but is no longer a dignified matron, but a young mother watching her child.
Elongated proportions, with more comfortable figures. More made up of shadows, less solid.
Expanding Florence Cathedral: Begun in 1296, Duomo was intended to be a grand structure
that would serve as spiritual center and as a statement of city’s wealth and importance. Arnolfo
di Cambio was the original designer. Very high nave arcade, resting on piers. Relatively small
windows in clerestory. No tall western towers, like in Fr Gothic, but separate campaniles.
Andrea Pisano, bronze doors in baptistery, 1330-36: 28 vignettes in quatrefoils. Scenes from life
of John the Baptist. Relief of Jesus’ baptism: clear composition with Jesus and key figures
surrounding him. Clear main narrative with only a few decorative elements.
,Building for the City Government: The Palazzo della Signoria: Pro-papal party (Guelphs)
consolidated its power in the city and wanted to contain the aristo families that supported the
emperor (Ghibellines). Palazzo della Signoria (Vecchio), 1298, was to serve as a symbol of
political independence. Thick stone walls and heavy battlements. Rusticated stones
(rough and uneven) → appearance of greater strength. Symbol of civic pride but
also serves as a defensive structure.
Painting in Tuscany
Ties to Rom and Byz past would inspire It painters to render forms in more naturalistic and
monumental images. Byz: ‘Greek manner’. Vasari thought that Byz art influenced It painting a
lot, and that ME It painting was virtually nonexistent.
Cimabue and Giotto: Cimabue of Florence painted Madonna Enthroned 1280-90: large scale
(3.5m) altarpiece as devotional focus of church. Like in Byz style, linear gold elements are used,
but not to make abstract patterns. Light becomes a network of lines.
Giotto di Bondone: Madonna Enthroned, 1310: Also in blue against a gold background.
Huge scale. Gradual movement of light into dark → more 3d. Less linear than
Cimabue. Suggestion of space by using archi throne. Innovative ideas of light and
space.
The Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel in Padua, 1305-06: Giotto had a gift for storytelling. One room
hall covered with a barrel vault. Entirely painted. Walls are divided into three registers:
horizontal rows, which contain narrative scenes. Christ entering Jerusalem, 1305-06: Event
takes place in the foreground, close to the viewer. Strong 3d quality.Large simple
forms and limited depth → spatial coherence. Isolation and dignity → solemn air to
painting. Matching of composition and meaning. The Lamentation, 1305-06: Last farewell
between Jesus and his family adn friends (does not appear in the Gospels). Tragic mood is
created by expressions, gestures and low center of gravity. Simple setting heightens the
dramatic impact.
Siena: Devotion to Mary in Works by Duccio and Simone: Duccio di Buoninsegna of Siena
directed a workshop in Siena, which competed with Florence on many fronts. Virgin Mary as
protector and patron. Republic directed by the Nove, chosen from urban elite. Palazzo Publico,
begun 1298, as city government and to frame a public space. Points to rivalry with Florence
(likeness to Palazzo della Signoria). Many more windows and more ornamental facade.
Maestà Altar, Duccio, 1308-11: large altarpiece in Siena Cathedral. Polyptych with Madonna on
complex throne in the middle in deep blue (only for the Virgin). Somewhat in Greek manner
(lines to make shapes, rather than shading), but more relaxed draperies and undulating
softness. Byz style reflected in the use of ancient illusionism, but also Gothic sensibilities in the
fluidity of the drapery and naturalness of the figures.
Maestà Altar, Annunciation of the Death of the Virgin, 1308-11: Two figures enclosed in archi
space. Enframed separately, archi as space-creating function.
,Duccio includes detailed archi elements and many figures: Christ entering Jerusalem, Maestà
Altar, 1308-11. More complete description of the event than Giotto, who stressed the
psychology of the moment more.
Simone Martini, trained by Duccio. Annunciation, 1330: to complement Maestà. Triptych with a
Gothic frame. Mary responds with surprise and pulls away from him. Narrative reduced to
simplest form, but lyrical elegance that lifts them into the spiritual realm.
Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti: More down-to-earth approach: Birth of the Virgin, 1342:
Triptych altarpiece by Pietro Lorenzetti. Painted archi matches archi of the frame →
single system. Figures have mass and depth.
Good and bad government: Ambrogio Lorenzetti was hired by the Nove to paint an allegory
(=moralizing narrative) for Palazzo Publico. Allegory of Good Government, 1338-40: Assembly
fo figures personifying virtues, who flank a central figure of the Common Good. Ambrogio
makes an archi portrait of Siena. Bustling city, with Good Government in the Country outside of
the walls: provides scenes of Sienese farmers, overseen by figure of Security.
Artists and Patrons in Times of Crisis: Beginning of 14th: peace ans stability in Siena
and Florence. 1340s: warfare, famine and bubonic plague. Often seen as signs of
divine wrath → intensified interest in religion. For others → fear of death intensified
desire to enjoy life.
Camposanto: cemetery building next to Pisa cathedral: series of frescoes: variety of respondes
to death. Triumph of Death, 1325-50: asserts that death comes to all. Harsh and expressive
forms. Many painters probably died. The number of tombs and funeral masses rose.
Santa Maria Novella: Dominican. Chapel served as a meeting room and was painted with
frescoes expressing role of Doms in struggle for salvation: Andrea da Firenze, The Way of
Salvation, 1365-67: Depicts Dom lifestyle. Groups are preaching and converting heretics.
Symmetry and order reveal didactic function: legibility rather than illusion. Disasters of 14th
were overcome in Florence, which flourished as cultural center in 15th.
Northern Italy
Venice enjoyed political stability in 14th. Doge was elected from closed-off group of
merchant oligarchy. Stable → less defensive archi.
Venice: Political Stability and Sumptuous Architecture: Airy and open palace design. Doge’s
Palace was enlarged in 1340. Open at the base and weight of stories resting on arcades.
Ornamental quality
Milan: The Visconti Family and Northern Influences: Closer relationship to Gothic Fr. Visconti
were among great families of Eur through marriages. Authoritarian nature of Visconti rule visible
in tomb of Bernabò Visconti, 1363: Sarcophagus which supports an equestrian statue. Bernabò
is rigid and formal.
, His cousins, Giangaleazzo, Book of Hours, 1395: By Giovannino dei Grassi, features personal
representations and references to the duke. Realism, splendor and increasingly complex
imagery.
