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San Francesco Monastery, Assisi, 1228
-built in 1228
-important Christian pilgrimage location in Italy
-in the Upper Basilica on the West End are Cimabue's frescoes
-frescoes have been decaying (Due to the use of lead oxide in his colours and to the fact that the colours were applied when the plaster was no longer fresh, they have deteriorated and have been reduced to photographic negatives)
Giotto, Scrovegni Arena Chapel, 1300
-Giotto is perhaps best known for the frescos he painted in the Arena (or Scrovegni) Chapel. They were commissioned by a wealthy man named Enrico Scrovegni, the son of a well-known banker (and a banker himself). According to the Church, usury (charging interest for a loan) was a sin, and so perhaps one of Enrico's motivations for building the chapel and having it decorated by Giotto was to atone for the sin of usury. The chapel is known as the Arena Chapel since it is on the site of an ancient Roman arena (or amphitheater) that later became the property of Scrovegni, whose palace abutted the chapel (the palace was torn down in the nineteenth century, though parts of the arena remain).
-Because frescos are painted directly on the wall, they can't easily be moved and put in a museum. Most frescos are therefore still in the spaces that the artists created them in and that the patrons commissioned them for. Having the work of art in its original context helps us to understand its meaning for the people of the 14th century.
-Rather like a comic book without words, Giotto tells the story of Christ and his parents through pictures. Most of the population of Europe was illiterate at this time and so couldn't read the bible for themselves (Bibles were rare and expensive in any case—there was no printing press and so each was copied by hand). People learned the stories of the Bible—stories that would help them get to heaven—by hearing the words of the priest in the church, and by looking at paintings and sculptures.
-In one interpretation, the nearest figure is the Annunciate Virgin, the middle figure Saint Mary of Charity (so the two important roles Mary plays in the chapel), and the last figure is the Angel Gabriel. Another source identifies these additional figures as St. John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalene. These figures have also been identified as the Virgin Mary, the Virgin of Charity and the Virgin Annunciate.
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-Last Judgement was usually painted on the West Wall of Italian churches
Duccio, Maesta, Siena, 1308
-altarpiece
-located in Cathedral of Siena
-polyptic = made out of many panels
-Maesta = Virgin Mary
-Duccio's ability to combine elegant lines and patterns with a fragile naturalism became a hallmark of Sienese painting.
-freestanding painting
-saints, prophets are almost life-size
-four local saints in the front
-angels
-predella = a step under of small paintings
-predella consisted of her early life
-above consisted of her death and ascent to heaven
-13th Century, Siena and Florence had a war
-Siena believed they had one due to the grace of Mary
-Duccio was Siena's most famous painter
-was a response to Giotto's Arena Chapel
-"we can do this too, Siena can create a masterpiece"
-In contrast to Arena Chapel, Cathedral of Siena is made up of black and white marble, so fresco would not work
-instead, used panel paintings
-she is painted in blue, which was expensive because of lapis
-some sort of transparency with Christ's clothing (chiaroscuro technique = the treatment of light and shade in drawing and painting)
-Duccio does not indulge his paintings in gold
-he moves away from the few common colors to give a sense of real mask and real volume
-Christ's face holds wisdom, and is looking directly at us
-some angels look at Mary, some look away, very animated and informal
-the informality gives a sense of complexity and more human like gestures
-the throne moves out into our space
-this was located in the back of the church, but viewers could see this and not the back
Simone Martini, Annunciation, Siena, 1333
- Tempura
-student of Duccio with Sienese style
-14th century
-the angel Gabriel comes to Mary and tells her that she is conceiving the Christ child
-the announcement is inscribed physically coming out of Gabriel's mouth, like a speech bubble
-"hail mary full of grace, blessed art thou amongst women"
-sort of elegance
-Gabriel's wings hold delicacy and fluidity
-drape whips around as if he just landed
-the details are very characteristic
-the vase of lilies resemble Mary's virginity
-Gabriel holds a branch of olive leaves which resembles Christ and him being Prince of Peace
-above, there is the holy spirit
Lorenzetti's Allegory and Effects of Good and Bad Government, Siena, 1339
-Siena had its own government
-very proud republic, very wealthy
-it was on the road between France and Rome so it was a tourist trade
-meant to remind the rulers of the city to be good and just
- a series of fresco paintings executed by Ambrogio Lorenzetti which are located in the Salon of Nine (or Council Room) in the Town Hall (Palazzo Pubblico) of the city of Siena. This famous cycle of pre-Renaissance painting is made up of six different scenes: Allegory of Good Government; Allegory of Bad Government; Effects of Bad Government in the City; Effects of Good Government in the City; Effects of Bad Government in the Country; and Effects of Good Government in the Country. Commissioned by the Council of Nine (the city council) and designed as a sort of political warning, aimed at members of the Council (drawn from Siena's ruling families), to reduce corruption and misrule, these mural paintings offer a pictorial contrast between the peace and prosperity of honest rule, versus the decay and ruin caused by tyranny.
-Allegory of good government: justice is looking up at wisdom
-on right, justice as reward, and on left, punishment
-people underneath are the people of Siena
-the good commune is personified by Justice
-peace, fortitude, prudence are personified as well
-Abrogio loved architecture
Cimabue, Maesta ; Florence, 1280
- large scale painting made on wood
-located in Santa Trinita
-would have been behind the alter raised from the ground
-churches were usually lit up
-were looking up at Mary herself
-the steps where the Virgin's feet rest brings us back into space VISUAL PATHWAY
-the saints are underneath in a sort of basement
-they predicted the coming of Christ
-they are not evangelists; they are holding scrolls so they are from the Old Testament
-people would pray to Mary on behalf of God
-pointing to her son saying "this is the pathway to God"
-Christ's body is small, but not babylike
-somewhat looks like an older man, like he is a man of wisdom
-Byzantine tradition of elongated features
-angels show only half their body on the side, giving us space
-real gold has been attached to the surface
Giotto, Ognissanti Madonna, Florence, 1306
-Cimabue's student, Giotto, paints this 30 years later
-tradition of Ognissanti in Florence
-Mary occupies space, has a monumentality, a presence, and physicality
-there is usually a delicacy and elegant with Mary
-Mary is solid; there is no knocking her over
-using light and shadow, the turn of her body, the weight that it holds
-there is not much flatness
-rather sculptural
-her knees are foreshortened
-looking up at the ceiling
-all of the angels are looking up at Mary
-there are angels looking through the framework; hinting that a painting can be a kind of window that we can look into
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