Early Renaissance Art

Four Italian city states that were very successful commercially during the late Gothic period:

Venice

Florence

Lucca

Siena

Bubonic plague, which killed

between 25 and 50 percent of

Europe’s population in about

five years. It stimulated

religious bequests and

encouraged the

commissioning of devotional

images. The focus on sickness

and death also led to a

burgeoning in hospital

construction.

Humanism

A mode of civil conduct, a theory of education and a scholarly

discipline, mainly concerned with human values and interests as

distinct from (but not opposed to) religion’s otherworldly values.

Humanists were particularly interested in classical cultures, the

artifacts of which abounded in Italy, and thus helped lead to the rise

of the renewal of interest in classical art in the Renaissance.

Bonaventura BerlinghieriPanel from the Saint Francis AltarpieceSan Francesco, Pescia, Italy1235tempera on woodapproximately 5 ft. x 3 ft. 6 in.

Byzantine was the style that dominated Medieval Italian painting

Stylistic characteristics.

Frontal poses.

Lack of modeling.

Spatial and linear flatness.

Bonaventura BerlinghieriPanel from the Saint Francis AltarpieceSan Francesco, Pescia, Italy1235tempera on woodapproximately 5 ft. x 3 ft. 6 in.

Francis of Assisi, founder of the

Franciscan order of monks. He

believed he could get closer to God

by rejecting worldly goods and he

committed himself to a strict life of

fasting, prayer, and meditation.

The Franciscan worked to

demonstrate the example of St.

Francis and the order’s

commitment to teaching and

alleviating suffering.

Three episodes of his life that are illustrated in Berlingieri’s altarpiece:

St. Francis preaching to the birds.

St. Francis performing miracles.

St. Francis receiving the stigmata from a seraph.

Nicola PisanoPulpit of Pisa Cathedral Baptistery1259-1260marbleapproximately 15 ft. high

Two trends shown in the works of Nicola and Giovanni Pisano that become significant in the development of Renaissance art.

A new interest in classical antiquity. The densely packed large-scale figures of the relief panels of Nicola’s Pisa Cathedral pulpit are probably inspired by Roman sarcophagi in pose, bulk, and facial type.

Giovanni’s figures in the Sant’Andrea pulpit are loosely and dynamically arranged with animation, swiftly turning and rife with emotionalism and naturalism.

Nicola PisanoPulpit of Pisa Cathedral Baptistery1259-1260marbleapproximately 15 ft. high

CrucifixionAnnunciation and Nativity

Pietro Cavallini

Seated Apostles from the Last Judgment

Santa Cecelia in Trastevere, Rome Italy

ca. 1291

CimabueMadonna Enthroned with Angels and Prophetsca. 1280-1290tempera on wood12 ft. 7 in. x 7 ft. 4 in.

Cimabue was deeply influenced by the Italo-Byzantine style, he moved beyond it in the following ways:

The deeper space the Madonna and other figures reside in.

The gold embellishments taken from Byzantine art are used to add three-dimensionality to the drapery.

ca. 1310tempera on wood10 ft. 8 in. x 6 ft. 8 in.

Artistic traditions that influenced Giotto:

The Roman school of painting as represented by Cavallini, the work of Cimabue (presumed to be his teacher), French Gothic sculpture, and developments in contemporary Byzantine art.

Giotto di BondoneMadonna Enthroned

CimabueMadonna Enthroned with Angels and Prophets

Two characteristics of Giotto's style as seen by comparing his Madonna Enthroned with Cimabue's version of the same subject

Sculptural solidity and weight.

Figures that project into the light and give the illusion that they could throw shadows.

Giotto di BondoneInterior of the Arena ChapelPadua, Italy1305-1306fresco

Giotto di Bondone

Interior of the Arena Chapel

Padua, Italy

1305-1306fresco

Giotto di BondoneInterior of the Arena ChapelPadua, Italy1305-1306fresco

The subjects of the framed scenes deal with:

The most poignant incidents from the lives of Mary and her parents (top level), the life and mission of Christ (middle level), and his Passion, Crucifixion, and Resurrection (bottom level).

Giotto di BondoneLamentationfrom the Interior of the Arena ChapelPadua, Italy, 1305-1306fresco

Four characteristics of Giotto’s style as seen in the Lamentation scene

The framed scenes are connected with formal elements such as the rocky ledge.

The figures are sculpturesque (aided by the use of light and shade), simple, and weighty, but without precluding motion and emotion.

Figures are in defined groups each of which contribute to the rhythmic order of the composition that concentrates the viewer’s attention on the most important part of the picture.

Figures are seen from the back, emphasizing the foreground.

Giotto di BondoneThe Meeting of Joachim and Annafrom the Interior of the Arena ChapelPadua, Italy1305-1306fresco

In true fresco (buon fresco), the paint in the form of permanent limeproof pigments is diluted in water and applied to freshly laid lime plaster.

In fresco secco, the paint is applied to an already dry lime plaster wall.

Giotto di BondoneThe Meeting of Joachim and Annafrom the Interior of the Arena ChapelPadua, Italy1305-1306fresco

Cambio et al.Florence CathedralFlorence, Italybegun 1296

Cambio et al.

Florence Cathedral

Florence, Italy

begun 1296

Andrea Orcagna

Tabernacle

Or San Michele, Florence, Italy

ca. 1346-1347mosaic, gold, marble, lapis lazuli

Bernardo Daddi

Madonna and Child with Saints

1346-1347

Duccio di BuoninsegnaVirgin and Child Enthroned with Saintsfrom the Maestà altarpiece from Siena Cathedral, Siena, Italy1308-1311tempera on wood7 ft. x 13 ft.

The subject of Duccio’s Maesta Altarpiece was The Virgin, as Queen of Heaven, and Child.

Three stylistic elements Duccio derived from the Byzantine tradition:

The composition’s formality and symmetry.

The figures and facial types of the principal angels and saints.

The scene does not represent a narrative or present illusionistic space by the use of modeled forms.

Three ways in which Duccio modified it:

He relaxed the strict formality of the figures by turning them to each other.

He individualized the faces of the four saints kneeling in the foreground.

He softened the drapery patterning of Byzantine art, depicting them as shimmering and glistening textiles.

Duccio di BuoninsegnaBetrayal of Jesusfrom the back of the Maestà altarpiece from Siena Cathedral, Siena, Italy1309-1311tempera on wood1 ft.10 1/2 in. x 3 ft. 4 in.

Duccio di BuoninsegnaMadonna and Childca. 1300tempera and gold on wood11 x 8 1/8 in.

International Style (painting)

a style in art during the late 14th and early 15th centuries characterized by elegant stylization of illuminated manuscripts, mosaics, stained glass, etc., and by increased interest in secular themes. Major contributors were Simone Martini, Giotto, and Pisanello

Simone Martini and Lippo MemmiAnnunciation 1333tempera and gold leaf on wood10 ft.1 in. x 8 ft. 8 3/4 in.

Simone Martini and the International style:

Martini adapted the insubstantial but luxuriant patterns of the French Gothic manner to Sienese art, and in turn acquainted northern painters with the Sienese style.

List four characteristics of the International Style.

Brilliant colors.

Lavish costumes.

Intricate ornamentation.

Themes involving splendid processions.

Pietro LorenzettiThe Birth of the Virginfrom Siena Cathedral1342tempera on wood6 ft.1 in. x 5 ft. 11 in.

Palazzo PubblicoSienna, Italy1288-1309

Ambrogio LorenzettiPeaceful CityDetail from the fresco Effects of Good Government in the City and in the Country1338-1339fresco

Peaceful City shows the growing knowledge of perspective in the architectural forms. Peaceful Country is a specific place and environment, rather than the generic earlier ancient depictions of landscape

Ambrogio LorenzettiPeaceful CountryDetail from the fresco Effects of Good Government in the City and in the Country1338-1339fresco

Ambrogio Lorenzetti

Allegory of Bad Government

Detail from the fresco Effects of Bad Government in the City and in the Country

1338-1339fresco

Ambrogio Lorenzetti Effects of Bad Government in the Country

Detail from the fresco, Effects of Bad Government in the City and in the Country 1338-1339fresco

Artists were trained as in any other profession, in the apprentice system.

They started from age 7 to 15, living with a master painter.

Guilds supervised training, wanting to ensure professional reputations as well as to control the number of artists to limit competition.

After leaving their apprenticeships, artists entered related guilds and affiliated themselves with workshops as assistants to master artists.

Figure painting was reserved for the master artists.