The Proto-Renaissance in Italy 1200-1400

Barkley Hendricks, Lawdy Mama, 1969. Chris Ofili, The Holy Virgin Mary, 1996.

Andy Warhol, Gold Marilyn Monroe, 1962.

Gustav Klimt, Choir of Heavenly Angels from the Beethoven Frieze, 1902, casein

paint, gold paint, chalk, graphite on plaster with various materials.

Key Terms:

altarpiece- a panel that is painted or sculpted

representing a religious subject that is placed above

and behind an altar in a church

2 panels= diptych 3 panels= triptych multiple panels =

polyptych

Santa Croce, Florence, Italy.

Late Medieval Christian Art in Italy

Italo-Byzantine Style (the maniera greca)- The use of the

Byzantine style in Italy, especially prevalent after the fall of Constantinople in 1204, which led to the migration of

Byzantine artists to Italy.

Bonaventura Berlinghieri, Saint Francis Altarpiece, tempera on wood with gold leaf 5’ x 3’ x 6’, ca. 1235.

Late Medieval Christian Art in Italy- the Italo-Byzantine Style (the maniera greca)

Italo-Byzantine StyleBonaventura Berlinghieri

Saint Francis Altarpiece, ca. 1235.

Byzantine Mosaic of Justinian

San Vitale, Ravenna, ca. 547.

Similarities: gold, indistinct background; lack of modeling and depth in favor of stylization of forms and flatness; floating figures with elongated bodies, small heads

and almond shaped eyes.

Earlier Byzantine Mosaic

Crucifixion , Church of the Dormition, Daphni, Greece, ca 1090-1100.

Medieval Christian Art in Italy- The Italo-Byzantine Style

Key Terms:-tempera paint- a paint made of

pigment mixed with egg yolk, glue or casein.

-gilding- Very thin bounded gold leaf applied with glue to a surface. In this

case to emphasize the spiritual and heavenly subject matter.

Berlinghiero, Madonna and Child, tempera on wood, gold ground31 5/8 x 21 1/8 in, c. 1228-30, [Met Museum].

The Proto-Renaissance: the transition away

from the Italo-Byzantine Style

Map of Medieval Italy1000-1400

Florence and Siena (Tuscany):

the heart of the Proto-Renaissance

Key Term:maesta- the scene of the Virgin Mary (Madonna) seated on a throne holding

the infant Jesus in her lap, often flanked by angels, saints or prophets.

Literally meaning “majesty.”

Cimabue, Madonna Enthroned with Angels and Prophetstempera and gold leaf on wood, 12’ 7” x 7’ 4”, ca.1280-90.

Proto-Renaissance, ItalyCimabue, Madonna Enthroned with

Angels and Prophets, tempera on wood12’ 7” x 7’ 4”, ca. 1280-90.

Italo-Byzantine Style, ItalyBonaventura Berlinghieri Saint Francis Altarpiece

tempera on wood, 5’ x 3’ x 6’, ca. 1235.

Duccio, Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints(principle panel of the Maestà Altarpiece from the Siena Cathedral)

tempera and gold leaf on wood, 7 ‘ x 13’, ca. 1308-1311.

Duccio, Reconstruction of the Maestà Altarpiecefrom the Siena Cathedral

(front and back)tempera and gold leaf on wood

ca. 1308-1311.

Duccio, The Raising of Lazarus, panel from the back of the,Maestà Altarpiececa. 1308-1311, tempera and gold on panel, 17 1/8” x 18 ¼”.

Giotto di Bondone-The First Renaissance Painter?

Madonna Enthroned, from the Church of Ognissanti, Florence, Italytempera and gold leaf on wood, 10’ 8” x 6’ 8”, ca. 1305-10.

Giotto, detail, Madonna Enthroned.

Giotto, details, Madonna Enthroned.

Giotto, Madonna Enthroned, 10’ 8” x 6’ 8”, ca. 1310.

Cimabue, Madonna Enthroned with Angels and Prophets, 12’ 7” x 7’ 4”, ca. 1280-90.

Exterior of the Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, Padua, Italy.

Giotto di Bondone, The First Renaissance Painter?Interior frescoes of the Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, Padua, Italy, ca. 1305-6.

Left: detail from the Last Judgment fresco from the Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel showing Enrico Scrovegni

giving a symbolic model of the Arena Chapel to the Virgin Mary, the Virgin

of Charity, and the Virgin Annunciate.

Giotto, north wall of the Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, Marriage at Cana, Raising of Lazarus, Lamentation and Resurrection, Noli Me Tangere , fresco, ca. 1305-6, each

scene approx. 6’5” x 6’.

Giotto, Lamentation from the Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, fresco, ca. 1305-6, 6’ 6 ¾” x 6’ ¾” .

Key Term:fresco- Italian for “fresh.” A mural-painting technique involving the application of permanent limeproof pigments, diluted in water, on freshly laid lime plaster.

Giotto, Lamentation from the Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, fresco,

ca. 1305-6, 6’ 6 ¾” x 6’ ¾”.

Key Terms: fresco- Italian for “fresh.” A mural-

painting technique involving the application of permanent limeproof pigments, diluted in water, on freshly laid lime plaster.

chiaroscuro- literally meaning light and dark. The use of light and dark to produce three-dimensional modeling.

foreshortening- the use of perspective to show the extension of an object back into space.

giornata (pl. giornate)- meaning “day” in Italian, the section of plaster that a fresco painter expects to complete in one session, to keep the plaster from drying before pigment can be added.

Giotto, Kiss of Judas,South wall of the Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, ca. 1305,fresco,6’ 6 ¾” x 6 7/8”.

Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi, Annunciation, Siena Cathedral, 1333, tempera and gold leaf on wood, center panel 10’1” x 1’ 8 ¾”.

Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi, detail, Annunciation, Siena Cathedral, 1333, tempera and gold leaf on wood, center panel 10’1” x 1’ 8 ¾”.

Ambrogio LorenzettiEffects of Good Government in

the City and in the Country,Sala della Pace, Palazzo

Pubblico, Siena, Italy, 1338-1339, fresco.

Ambrogio Lorenzetti, detail of Justice in the Allegory of Good Government, from the Effects of Good Government in the City and in the Country frescoes, 1338-9.

Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Allegory of Bad Government, from the Effects of Good Government in the City and in the Country frescoes, 1338-

9.

Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Peaceful City, from the Effects of Good Government in the City and in the Country frescoes, 1338-

9.

Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Peaceful Country, from the Effects of Good Government in the City and in the Country frescoes, 1338-

9.