Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy

Map of Proto-Renaissance Europe, c.1350.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Pisa

People:• Italian cities important

centers of trade– Pisa (Pisano)– Florence (Cimabue and

Giotto*)– Siena (Lorenzetti)

• Artists returning to classicism, integrating outside influences from other cultures

Map of Italy, ca. 1300-1360

Art in 13th and 14th Century ItalyPeople:

• Italy’s location on the Mediterranean caused its cities to become important trading centers and avenues of cultural assimilation

• Cities along the coastline became wealthier and wealthier and their artisans and merchants a new class

• Most prominent cities Florence, Pisa, Venice, and Siena

• Fighting between these merchants and powerful families and supporters of the pope was frequent as were “wars” between the different city-states

Main trade routes of late medieval Europe.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy

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.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy

Dates and Places:

• Proto-Renaissance (1200 to the early 15th century)

• Northern Italy

People:

• Italian humanism

• Increasing interest in antiquity and study of Roman sculpture

• Decline in feudalism

• Social stability

• Little threat of warfare

• Thriving trade market

• Private patrons

• Stirrings of a return to classicismArnolfo di Cambio and others, Florence

Cathedral, begun 1296.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Pisa• Pisa originally settled by Romans,

many Roman remains including sarcophagi, sculptures remain and helped to shape burgeoning re-interest in classicism

• Christian marytria serve as example

Pisa Baptistery, begun 1153. Church of the Holy Sepulchre, 4th -

19th century, Jerusalem

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Pisa

• Crusaders bring Byzantine and Islamic styles to Italy

Detail of the dome of the Pisa Baptistery, begun 1153.

The star shaped ceiling of the Sala de Dos Hermanas in the Palace of the Lions. The Alhambra Palace. Granada, Spain.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Pisa

Example:

• Pulpit of Saint Andrew, Pisa Baptistery– “In the year 1269, Nicola Pisano

carved this noble work. May so gifted a hand be praised as it deserves.”

• Eagle-symbol of Saint John– “…in the beginning was the word

and the word was God”

• Draws on Ancient Roman sarcophagi, Gothic architecture, and French ivory carvings

• Presents early revival of Classical sculpture and influence

Nicola Pisano, Pulpit, 1259-1269. Marble, height 15.’ Baptistery, Pisa.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Pisa

Nicola Pisano, Pulpit (center) with representation of the Virtues, Fortitude (left) and Charity (right), 1259-1269. Marble, height 15.’ Baptistery, Pisa.

Nicola Pisano, detail of the pulpit, 1259-1269. Marble, 33 ½” x 44 ½.” Baptistery, Pisa.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Pisa

• Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II –humanistic culture in Sicily due to this king/ he fostered the revival of Roman sculpture and decoration in Sicily and S. Italy before the mid-13th century

Nicola Pisano, Pulpit, 1259-1269. Marble, height 15.’ Baptistery, Pisa.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Pisa

Nicola Pisano, detail of the pulpit, 1259-1269. Marble, 33 ½” x 44 ½.” Baptistery, Pisa.

Portrait of a Roman Matron as Cybele, c. 50 AD. Marble, 63 ¾” x 27 9/16” x 25 3/8.” Getty Museum, CA

• Decoration of Pisa pulpit inspired by classical relief sculpture (face types, beards, hair styles, draperies, weight of figures).

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Pisa

Nicola Pisano, detail of the pulpit, 1259-1269. Marble, 33 ½” x 44 ½.” Baptistery, Pisa.

Sarcophagus with the contest between the Muses and the Sirens, Late Imperial, Gallienic, third quarter of 3rd century A.D. Pentelic marble, overall 21 ¾” x 77 ¼” x 22

½.” Villa Nero, Rome.

• Artists like Pisano also found inspiration in the sculpture of Ancient Roman sarcophagi.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Pisa

Nicola Pisano, Nativity, detail of the pulpit, 1259-1269. Marble, 33 ½” x 44 ½.” Baptistery,

Pisa.

Example:

• Pulpit’s 6 rectangular sides contain narratives from the Bible carved in relief

• Compressed narrative of Annunciation and Birth of Christ

• Densely crowded space with overlapping figures create depth of dimension

• Iconography reflects Byzantine tradition – Size of Virgin signifies

importance

• Details including midwifes and Joseph make the event more approachable for viewer

• Classical architecture in background

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Pisa

Nicola Pisano, detail of the pulpit, 1259-1269. Marble, 33 ½” x 44 ½.” Baptistery, Pisa.

Giovanni Pisano, Nativity, detail of pulpit, Sant’ Andrea, Pistola , 1302-1310.

Marble, approximately 2’10” x 3 ¾.”

• 40 years after his father’s rendition of the same subject – Giovanni’s pulpit is more dynamic and figures are loosely arranged (animated, twisting and bending), shows more motion (emotion = new interest in classical antiquity and naturalism)

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Florence

• Influence of 2 mendicant (charitable) orders (the Dominicans and the Franciscans) enforced humanist ideals– these orders rejected

materialism and embraced giving alms and caring for the poor

• Dominicans fought heresy and promoted Church doctrine

• Franciscans brought spirituality and comfort to the poor

– Franciscans used images and told stories to explain teachings of church

Arnolfo di Cambio, Nave and choir of Santa Croce, begun c. 1295, Florence.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Florence

• Growing city populations demanded large churches that could accommodate big crowds, special buildings for baptism

• The creation of these structures was done over several generations, city groups and guilds often commissioned or held contests to see who would head up design and construction

Arnolfo di Cambio, Nave and choir of Santa Croce, begun c. 1295, Florence.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Florence

• Exhibits Gothic features and distinctly Italian elements– Broad proportions, rather

than vertical– Nave unbroken– Gothic elements– Wood work spans nave

(simplicity and humility, possible Romanesque influence or Early Christian)

• Pointed arches and vertical moldings that bring eye upwards Arnolfo di Cambio, Nave and choir of Santa

Croce, begun c. 1295, Florence.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy

Arnolfo di Cambio, Nave and choir of Santa Croce, begun c. 1295, Florence.

Cross-section Old Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome c. 329 CE.

• Basic design inspiration still in the tradition of the Roman basilica

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Florence

Example:

• Begun 1296 and completed over several generations

• Spiritual center of the city

• Symbol of civic pride and wealth

• Initial design after Santa Croce, later additions include Gothic elements

Arnolfo di Cambio and others, Florence Cathedral, begun 1296.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Florence

Example:

• Begun 1296 and completed over several generations

• Spiritual center of the city

• Symbol of civic pride and wealth

• Initial design after Santa Croce, later additions include Gothic elements

Arnolfo di Cambio and others, Florence Cathedral, begun 1296.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Florence

Example:

• The dimensions of the building are enormous: length 502 ft., width 124 ft., width at the crossing 295 ft., height of the arches in the aisles is 75 ft., the height of the dome is 375 ft.

• Can accommodate upward of 3,000 parishoners

Arnolfo di Cambio and others, Florence Cathedral, begun 1296.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Florence

Example:

• Civic/governmental buildings also commissioned dedicated to well being of city and its people overlooks Palazzo della Signoria

• Town hall of Florence

• Translates “Old Palace”

• Built upon upon the ruins of Palazzo dei Fanti and Palazzo dell'Esecutore di Giustizia (tower “La Vacca or The Cow” left over)

• Romanesque elements

• Dominates skyline as symbol of power and independence

Arnolfo di Cambio, Palazzo Vecchio, begun 1298-1310. Florence.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Florence

Example:

• Observation of natural world

• Modeled his large image on Byzantine examples (structured and symmetrical)/ also used gold to embellish

• New features include constructed deeper space (overlapping, furniture)

• Considered last artist of Byzantine tradition

Cimabue, Madonna Enthroned with Angels and Prophets, ca. 1280–1290. Tempera on panel, 12’ 7 ½” x 7’4.” Galleria degli Uffizi,

Florence.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: FlorenceExample:

• Theotokos= “God-bearer”• Influenced by Roman school of painting

and his teacher, Cimabue, French Gothic sculptors and ancient Roman art

• His true teacher was nature – the world of visible things/ this artistic approach displaced the Byzantine style, established painting as major art form for next 7 centuries and restored the naturalistic approach developed by the ancients

• Marriage of Byzantine and Gothic elements

• Figures have weight• Division of space symbolically and

formally• Influence of Italian architecture• Considered father of Italian Renaissance

Giotto di Bondone, Madonna Enthroned, ca. 1310. Tempera on panel, 10’8” x 6’8”. Galleria degli

Uffizi, Florence.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Florence

Example:

• He inaugurated a method of pictorial expression based on observation and initiated an age that might be called “early scientific”

• Giotto and his successors contributed to the foundation of empirical science/ the visual world must be observed before it can be analyzed and understood

• With Giotto, Western artists turned toward the visible world as their source of knowledge of nature

• Sculptural solidity and weight/ stability/ her body is not lost but asserted/ the throne is deep enough to contain the monumental figure, it projects and encloses her (creates depth)

• Influence of silk trade in decorative patterns and detailing

Giotto di Bondone, Madonna Enthroned, ca. 1310. Tempera on panel, 10’8” x 6’8”. Galleria

degli Uffizi, Florence.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Florence

• Cimabue’s angels look stylized and abstracted, their faces are all similar and elongated, the angels hover weightlessly stacked on top of one another

• Giotto's figures have solidity and weight to them, faces are quite expressive and individualized rather than stylized, the throne is shown as a realistic three dimensional space and the angels are shown convincingly in front of one another rather than stacked on top of each other

Left: Cimabue, Madonna Enthroned with Angels and Prophets, ca. 1280–1290. Fig. Right: Giotto, Madonna Enthroned, ca. 1310.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Padua

Giotto di Bondone, Arena Chapel left (exterior) and right ( Interior of the Arena Chapel, facing east.) Padua, Italy.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Padua

Example:

• Best preserved example of Giotto’s work

• Fresco program in family chapel

• Private patron Enrico Scrovegni, banker

• Also known as Arena Chapel

• Dedicated to Mary Annunciate Giotto di Bondone, Enrico Scrovegni dedicating

chapel (scene from Padua Chapel), c. 1305. Fresco, 78” x 77.” Padua, Italy.

FRESCO PAINTING• Fresco = Italian for “fresh” – has long history – Minoans used it as early as

1650 BCE

• Mural painting technique – applied permanent limeproof pigments, diluted in water, on freshly laid lime plaster, pigments absorbed into surface of wall as plaster dried

• Most permanent painting technique

• Also called “buon fresco” (true fresco)

• It is time-consuming and demanding and requires several layers of plaster

• Steps: prepare wall with rough layer of lime plaster called arriccio (brown coat), artist transfers composition to wall by drawing on arriccio with burnt-orange pigment called sinopia or by transferring a cartoon (full-sized preparatory drawing), intonaco (painting coat) is laid smoothly over drawing in sections called giornate (Italian for days) – the artist had to paint fairly quickly because the plaster could not dry

• In areas of high humidity (like Venice) fresco was less appropriate because of moisture

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Padua

Example:

• Ceiling dominated by blue field with gold stars symbolic of heaven

• Medallions feature Mary with Christ child and prophets (Baruch, Isaiah, Daniel, Malachi)

Giotto di Bondone, View of ceiling from Padua Chapel, c. 1305. Fresco, 78” x 77.” Padua, Italy.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Padua

Example:

• Walls divided into 3 registers

– Each contains narrative scenes devoted mainly to life of Christ

– Begins at altar with Annunciation, ends with Last Judgment at west end

• Each field is its own narrative moment

Diagram of frescoes Arena Chapel

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Padua

Example:

• Pioneer of naturalistic treatment of figures

• Drapery reveals body

• Emotional expression

• Shallow, illusionistic space for narrative, figures close to picture plane

• Overlapping used to create illusion of space Giotto di Bondone, Lamentation (scene

from Arena Chapel), c. 1305. Fresco, 78” x 77.” Padua, Italy.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Padua

Example:

• Religious symbolism

– Tree of Knowledge

– Jonah and the whale

Giotto di Bondone, Lamentation (scene from Arena Chapel), c. 1305. Fresco, 78” x 77.”

Padua, Italy.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Padua

Example:

• 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.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Siena

Example:

• Siena is another powerful city-state in the North of Italy

• Urban center of bankers and merchants

• Government form was the Republic

• Art and architecture used to legitimate this form of government, proved it was pleasing, prosperous, and favored by God

• Republic of Siena strong commitment to art Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Italy, 1288–

1309.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Siena

Example:

• Symmetrical in design with lofty tower

• Tower served as lookout over the city and as a bell tower for ringing signals

• Town Hall – Object of Civic Pride

• Class struggle, feuds between rich and powerful families, uprisings of whole populace against city governors were constant threats

• Heavy walls and battlements were needed in the design to defend against own citizens

Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Italy, 1288–1309.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Siena

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.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Siena

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.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Siena

Example:

• 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

• 24 elders are shown listening to these virtues

Ambrogio Lorenzetti, detail The Allegory of Good and Bad Government, 1338-1340. Fresco, Sale della

Pace, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Siena

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.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Siena

Example:

• City is shown in disarray

• Buildings in poor

condition, an

atmosphere of fear and

violence rules

• Violent acts dominate

the sceneAmbrogio Lorenzetti, detail The Effects of Bad

Government in the city, from the Siena frescoes1338-1340. Fresco, Sale della Pace, Palazzo

Pubblico, Siena.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Siena

Example:• Tyranny sits surrounded by

vices (avarice, pride, and vainglory) in an inversion of the Allegory of Good Government

• Joining Tyranny is an architecture of war are personifications of treason, cruelty, fraud, fury, war, and divisiveness

• At Tyranny’s feet Justice is shown bound Ambrogio Lorenzetti, detail “Bad Government”

from The Allegory of Good and Bad Government, 1338-1340. Fresco, Sale della Pace, Palazzo

Pubblico, Siena.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Siena

Example:

• Lorenzetti shows the effects of bad government on the countryside where plague, famine, and death rule

• mid 13th century warfare bankrupted many merchants and their cities, corruption shook city governments, and crop failures and famine killed many

• 1348 the bubonic plague or “Black Death” spread throughout Europe killing half of its population Ambrogio Lorenzetti, detail “Effects of Bad Government

on Country” from The Allegory of Good and Bad Government, 1338-1340. Fresco, Sale della Pace,

Palazzo Pubblico, Siena.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Siena

• Sienese believed the Virgin Mary sponsored their victory over the Florentines in 1260

• Church dedicated to her honor

• Center of Siena is the cathedral

Siena Cathedral begun 1196, consecrated ca. 1215.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Siena

Duccio di Buoninsegna, Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints or The Maestà , 1308–1311. Tempera on panel, central panel 7 ft. high. Museo dell’ Opera del Duomo, Siena, Italy

“Holy Mother of God, be the cause of peace to Siena, and to the life of Duccio because he has painted you thus.”

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Siena

Example:

• 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 or The Maestà , 1308–1311. Tempera on panel, central panel 7 ft. high. Museo dell’ Opera del Duomo,

Siena, Italy.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Siena

• Father of Sienese painting

• Byzantine characteristics = composition’s formality, symmetry, figures and facial types

• What’s different: relaxed the strict frontality and rigidity of figures – they turn to each other in quiet conversation, individualizes faces of four saints kneeling in foreground, drapery is not so stiff (Duccio and others prized fabrics from China, Persia, etc. and created the glistening and shimmering effects of textiles)

Duccio di Buoninsegna (c.1255-before 1319)

Duccio di Buoninsegna, Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints or The Maestà , 1308–1311. Tempera on

panel, central panel 7 ft. high. Museo dell’ Opera del Duomo, Siena, Italy.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy: Siena

Duccio di Buoninsegna, Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints or The Maestà , 1308–1311. Tempera on panel, central panel 7 ft. high. Museo dell’ Opera del Duomo.

Siena vs. Florence

• Rivals (Florence vs. Siena)• What’s different: relaxed the strict frontality and

rigidity of figures – they turn to each other in quiet conversation, individualizes faces of four saints kneeling in foreground, drapery is not so stiff (Duccio and others prized fabrics from China, Persia, etc. and created the glistening and shimmering effects of textiles)

Duccio di Buoninsegna, Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints or The Maestà , 1308–

1311. Tempera on panel, central panel 7 ft. high. Museo dell’ Opera del Duomo, Siena, Italy.

Giotto di Bondone, Madonna Enthroned, ca. 1310. Tempera on

panel, 10’8” x 6’8”. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

Art in 13th and 14th Century Italy

In sum, the Proto-Renaissance:

• Occurred in Northern Italy, over the course of two to three centuries, because of several converging factors.

• Was comprised of a number of small, but vital, artistic changes which represented a gradual break from Medieval art.

• Paved the way for the "Early" Renaissance that took place in 15th century Italy.