Late Medieval/Proto-Renaissance Flashcards
Cimabue, Madonna Enthroned with Angels and Prophets, ca. 1280-1290 (Florence, Italy)
altarpiece to draw attention to Eucharist
large, single wooden panel with Madonna & child- she points to Christ with R hand (showing way), Christ raises R hand to bless, L has scroll (message), OT prophets below supporting NT promise
tempera= good for detail
Cimabue is 1st artist in Vasari’s “Lives”
maniera greca- modelled after Greek icons by refugees- re-birth of Greco-Roman ideas- begin to depart from flat hieratic approach- angels are overlapping- Tuscan interest in volume, space behaving painting surface
influence of Int’l Gothic Style in drapery
Giotto di Bondone, Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, 1305-1306 (Padua, Italy)
private chapel commissioned by Enrico Scrovegni- papal banker, usurer, built to ensure salvation
barrel-vaulted, blue sky & golden stars, images from life of Virgin, life of Christ, centering around Last Judgment
Giotto’s painting- more unified vs. compartmentalized (Gislebertus); donor portrait below- Scrovegni hands chapel to 3 Marys, supported by cleric
Tuscan interest in naturalism/anecdotal detail
Duccio, Maesta, 1308-11 (Duomo, Sienna)
central piece of the Maesta altarpiece, 7’x13’
4 previous patron saints of city kneeling, making way for the Madonna, the “new” patron saint; holy elect above them (St. John the Baptist, St. Paul), flanked by angels
sacra conversazione- invented by Italians- commissioned by Opera del Duomo; holy figures from different historical eras miraculously brought to converse; the praying faithful can pray to all simultaneously
Jean Purcelle, The Hours of Jeanne D’Evreux, c. 1325-1328
Charles IV gave to 14-year-old queen as wedding gift- program r/o production of male heir; manuscript illumination
Book of Hours- private prayer book for 8 canonical devotional “hours” ofen worn or carried like jewelry
narrative in pages parallel eacho other (typology) e.g. Judas’s betrayal vs. Annunciation- both “beginning”- Passion vs. Incarnation
bodies of Christ and Mary face each other, “S” shape; in grisaille- shades of gray; elongated forms of courtly style
German, Rottgen Pieta, ca. 1300-1325
Andachtsbilder- devotional image that contemplate Christ’s first/last hours (Vespers- prayers during evening)- Vesperbild- specific type
uniquely German- focus on brutal realism of death and suffering
Virgin with Dead Christ- lamentation typle, poluchromed to be as realistic as possible
tomb/throne= altar- becomes altarpiece
reflects psychological realism of Black Death
meant for private contemplation- growing secularization of religion foretells Reformation
