Chapter 15 - 14th Century Painting in Italy

Question 1

Proto Renaissance

Answer 1

Painting and sculpture created in Italy between 1280 and 1400

Question 2

Trecento

Answer 2

Period between Gothic and Renaissance

Question 3

Who is Cimabue?

Answer 3

A painter and mosaic artist in the 13th century. He was from Florence but worked in Rome. He was famous in his time but is better known today for his student Giotto di Bondone

Question 4

What are the characteristics of Byzantine art?

Answer 4

• Solemn, stylised, flat appearance
• Rich gold background
• Unrealistic figures

Question 5

What are the characteristics of Giotto’s work?

Answer 5

• Lifelike and natural figures set against realistic backgrounds
• Correct proportions
• Foreshortening
• Light and scale
• Facial expression and gestures to show human emotion

Question 6

Why did frescoes become popular during the Trecento?

Answer 6

Mosaics were to slow and expensive for the new, larger churches, and frescoes were cheaper and quicker

Question 7

Fresco

Answer 7

Italian for ‘fresh’. Wall painting on wet plaster

Question 8

Why did frescoes demand a sureness on the part of the artist?

Answer 8

It was important to work quickly as the painting had to be done while the plaster is still wet enough to absorb colour. Errors only show when the wall begins to dry and corrections can only be made by knocking out dry plaster and starting again

Question 9

What is the name of this building? Who had it built? Why?

Answer 9

The Arena Chapel Enrico del Scrovegni

His father was a notorious money lender and it is believed that Enrico had the chapel built to clear his fathers name

Question 10

Who was commissioned to decorate the inside of the Arena Chapel?

Answer 10

Giotto

Question 11

What were the themes of the artwork in the Arena Chapel?

Answer 11

Religious redemption and forgiveness

Question 12

Name this piece? Who is the artist?

Answer 12

The Lament for Christ by Giotto

Question 13

How did Giotto create a sense of space and more realistic figures?

Answer 13

1. Using light and shadow to free elements from the background
2. Using drapery to accentuate the mass of the body (figures are bulky, individual and solid)
3. Using foreshortening
4. Using landscape to create depth

Question 14

What was so revolutionary about the angles in Giotto’s ‘The Lament for Christ’?

Answer 14

The mirrored the humans’ expressions

Question 15

Name this piece? Who is the artist?

Answer 15

The Kiss of Judas by Giotto