14th Century Art in Europe

14th Century

Art in Europ

e

Europe in the 14th Century

We can call this

“late Gothic”

Some main ideas:

• This time period is the bridge between Medieval and Renaissance art in Europe• The artist becomes important as an

individual- we can trace their life stories• We see some aspects of ancient sculpture

brought back to life – with help from Pisani family• Sienese and Florentine schools of

painting flourish

History lesson… Let’s talk about Italy• Italy was divided into city-states ruled by princes,

prelates, and the occasional republic, like Venice. • Citizens identify themselves as Sienese or

Florentines (not Italians…. really!?)• Languages across the area are vastly different• Politics are constantly shifting, splintering –

unstable• How strange that even with such instability, some

significant works of art were created, but….. A lot of the artwork is in bad condition, and artists favored by one monarch may have been jobless with others.

Life as an artist wasn’t too bad!• Artists work in a regulated network – guild

system (artwork regulated as an industry) – entered the guild after a successful internship

• Guilds determined how long apprenticeships should take, how many apprentices an artist could have, and the route to success for an artist

• Female artists rare – apprentices lived with their teacher (that would be scandalous!)

• Guilds stuck around until 18th century!

Patrons were happy too!• Lots of commissions among orders of friars, like the

Franciscans and the Dominicans – both groups help the poor, reject materialism

• Dominicans commission narrative pulpits and altarpieces – used as a learning tool for worshipers

• Franciscans commission frescoes about St. Francis – “TRECENTO” art (aka: Italian art in the 1300’s)

• People devoted to their local church - Families commission decorative private chapels – family members serve as models in religious scenes

• Families sponsor sculptures and altarpieces

• Rulers, church leaders, civic institutions – all commissioned work for public display – show offs!

• Nice commission = I’m legit and generous!• Book-keeping records of transactions between

artists and patrons• Artists sign their work more regularly – gain

status – radical break from past modesty• Cimabue and Nicola Pisano – first traceable

artists

We’re going to start in ITALY

Let’s look at some Italian architecture• Width AND height stressed – taller than

French Gothic, but height isn’t as “obvious” because of grand width

• Interiors have one story of arches and a second story of windows

• Wide nave, apse backlit by tall windows• Rib vaults• LOTS of light comes through pastel-colored

stained glass windows

FLORENCE CATHEDRAL, by Arnolfo di Cambio + others begun 1296 (late 13th century), Florence, ItalyGiotto designed the campanile (fun to climb!)

The façade was finished in the 19th century

This is the view from the top of Giotto’s

campanile

SMO CAM

Florence Cathedral, interior (SMO CAM)

• Wide open!

• Broad, heavy piers allow side aisle spaces to flow into nave

• Widely spaced arches

• Lighter looking than French Gothic

• Giotto’s campanile

• Divided into horizontal sections

• Floors stacked one above the other

•Marble of various colors•Patterns of rectangular blocks cover surface

• Altar is located under the dome – symbolic “Dome of Heaven” – separate area from the nave- separation of heaven and “worldly” realm of congregation in the nave

• But don’t get too excited- the dome was not begun until 1420 (designed by Brunelleschi)

Brunelleschi’s dome

Beneath the dome

Life of John the Baptist

by Andrea Pisano1330-1336

bronze

(Frame is from Ghiberti workshop, mid-15th century)

•The doors of the baptistry in front of Florence Cathedral

-shows 20 scenes from the life of John the Baptist set above 8 personifications of the Virtues

And since I know you’re probably wondering …The eight virtues are:

hopefaithcharityhumilityfortitudetemperancejusticeprudence

•Reliefs are framed by quatrefoils (4-lobed decorative frames)

• Figures are in classicizing style (which we’ll see in Florentine painting), but also show soft curves of Gothic forms in their gestures and drapery

• Elegant, natural poses• Figures are on shelf-like stages, but they are very 3-D looking• Overall effect of quatrefoils is 2-D looking and decorative –

emphasizes solidity of the doors

PIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIA, Florence, Italy 1376-1382

•This is where the city’s government (the Signoria) met•Massive fortified building with a tall bell tower (300 feet)

This is the PALAZZO in the PIAZZA. A piazza is a civic center.

PALAZZO PUBBLICO, 1288-1309, Siena, Italy

•Center of Siena’s civic government•Exterior looks like a fortress- like it’s impenetrable•Huge campanile dominates façade – towers over the city as a whole•Symbolically puts this building in competition with the city’s cathedral

FLORENCE

SIENA

Siena Cathedral (1263, 13th century), Siena, Italy

-In the form of a Latin cross

-Slightly projecting transept

-Also has a dome and bell tower

-Interior images dedicated to the life of Mary

•Dome is on a hexagonal base with supporting columns•Nave has semicircular arches•Exterior and interior use white and green-black marble in stripes (a little red marble on façade)•Black and white are symbolic colors of Siena

WHEN you go to Siena

Cathedral, check out their cool

illuminated manuscript

library!

Time to move on to Florentine painting•Italian painting of the late Gothic period has large scale panels that stand on their own•Artists prefer fresco and tempera – techniques that helped them to shade figures in a realistic, 3-D way•At first, paintings were similar to the Byzantine style (“maniera greca”). But then things changed – closer to reality, figures anchored to a ground line (not floating)•Expressive faces, meaningful gestures, clear emotions•Played with composition more – moved focus away from center of the painting

Artist: Cimabue VIRGIN AND CHILD

ENTHRONED

Most likely painted for the high altar of the

church of Santa Trinità, Florence. c. 1280

(13th cen.), Tempera and gold on wood

panel

•“Maniera greca” – figures rise in a hieratic Byzantine manner•Emphasis on flatness of forms •Angels hover around throne•Long, thin, elegant figures – vertical emphasis•Flecks of gold in drapery- define folds

Artist: Giotto di Bondone

VIRGIN AND CHILD ENTHRONED

Most likely painted for the high altar of the

church of the Ognissanti (All Saints), Florence. 1305-1310 (14th cen.)Tempera and gold on

wood panel

•Forms have bulk – have weight, size, solidity, 3-D nature•Mary’s body is clear through the drapery•Angels stand more naturally around Gothic throne•Perspective is shown – look at the shadowing on the steps and the sides of the throne

•Some faces turn away – not frontal

•Mary is shown as the mother of Christ, but also as a human being

Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel

by: Giotto di Bondone1305-06

(14th cen.)Frescoes,

Padua, Italy

•Commissioned by a local banker, Enrico Scrovegni – for a family chapel•Dedicated to the Virgin of Charity and the Virgin of the Annunciation•Also called the “Arena” chapel because it was built on top of an ancient Roman arena•Simple, barrel-vaulted room

•Story of Mary and Jesus in a series of rectangular panels•Last Judgment story by entrance •Faux marble, vertical bands of faux marble inlay and faux relief carvings•Brilliant blue “sky” ceiling, portrait discs float like glowing moons

•This room shows Giotto’s genius for displaying a complex narrative in an easy-to-understand visual way•Scenes are arranged in a way that relates them to one another. For example, Wedding at Cana is near the Eucharist. Raising of Lazarus is near Jesus’s Resurrection

•All scenes show a sense of depth- Giotto modeled his bulky figures with intense colors, deep shadows, and a sense of deep landscape and architecture•Giotto’s work has direct emotional appeal•Deliberate plainness (Franciscan values)

MARRIAGE AT CANA, RAISING OF LAZARUS, LAMENTATION, AND RESURRECTION (in

Arena chapel)

marriage Raising of Lazarus

LamentationResurrection

MEETING AT THE GOLDEN GATEby; Giotto de Bondone, 1304-06 (14th cen). Padua,

Italy (in the Arena Chapel)

It’s in here

•Vertical architecture, golden arch –Mirror the way the couple lean towards one another

•Encounter between Joachim and Anne (Mary’s parents)•Joachim accompanied by a shepherd (left)•Giotto uses this NEW idea of creating the impression of deep space•People cut off = looks like a continuous procession

•Figures look solid (more like Roman statues than the mosaics we saw back in Byzantine•Figures bodies have a stout “sandbag-like” quality

•Anne and Joachim meet on a bridge – border between outside world and the security of the city•Tender embrace – faces seem to fuse into one another

•An angel directed the childless couple to go separately to the Golden Gate in Jerusalem, and when they meet and kiss, Mary is conceived (the “Immaculate Conception”)

•Figures have an inflexible massiveness – slowness, steadiness, carefulness in the way they maneuver

Lamentation, Artist: Giotto (in Arena Chapel)

fresco, 1305-1306 (14th cen.), Padua, Italy

•This fresco is in the Arena Chapel built by Enrico Scrovegni – he built it because he felt guilty about the sinful ways his family gained their fortune•Some narrative scenes in the chapel illustrate Bible scenes of ill-gotten gains

•Shallow space –figures are pushed forward•Main action (Christ) is in lower left – NOT in the center, gasp! •Diagonal cliff points to action •Strong direction of light (coming from upper right) – we can see this in the way the figures/scenery is modeled

•This fresco is in the Arena Chapel built by Enrico Scrovegni – he built it because he felt guilty about the sinful ways his family gained their fortune•Some narrative scenes in the chapel illustrate Bible scenes of ill-gotten gains

•Wide range of emotion- sadness, quiet resignation, outbursts, despair

•Angels grieving

•Tree is bare

•Figures seen from the back – help to isolate the main action

•Clear foreground, middle ground, and background

Let’s look at some Sienese painting (painting from the region of Siena, Italy)

•Painters here like a more decorative style of painting•Figures thinner, elegant, courtly•Rich, decorative colors•Drapery curves artistically in fluttering, flouncing ripples•Painters like to imitate marble patterning on thrones or pavement•Figures still dominate architectural settings (just like Florentine)•Altarpieces reflect style of Gothic churches•Explored 3-dimensionality – deeper than Florentine

•Sienese painters like to show the opening of a door frame or a room wall, revealing what lies beyond

•Composition resembles a theatrical stage

•Artist SIMONE MARTINI began the “International Gothic” style of painting – spread across Europe

Artist: Duccio, MAESTA, main panel1308-1311 (14th cen.), Tempera on panel

It’s in Siena Cathedral

•Richest and most complex altarpiece of its time•Hieratic arrangement of figures in three horizontal registers – Mary and Jesus in center, saints kneeling below and standing on either side, angels looming between saints’ halos in top row

•Fluttering, light drapery lines fall in zigzag patterns•Very decorative throne – folds outward to frame Mary and Jesus•Duccio’s only signed and documented work

Artist: Simone Martini, ANNUNCIATION, 1333 (14th cen.), tempera on panel

•Floor looks like grainy marble- recedes in space (perspective)•Elegant figures, drapery, ornamentation

•Wow, lots of gold! •Angel: white brocade fabric with floating plaid mantle (like a cape)

•Fabric is beautifully and subtly modeled•Mary: shrinks back in modesty, looks like a courtly medieval woman

•Vase of white lilies = symbol of Mary’s purity•Gold wall background becomes the rear wall of the “room” the figures are in

•Gestures are courtly and aristocratic•International Gothic style

Artist: Pietro Lorenzetti

BIRTH OF THE VIRGIN

1342 (14th cen.)tempera on

panel

In Siena Cathedral

•Pioneering attempt! – showing an interior space w/ three parts of the triptych suggesting a single common viewpoint

•St. Anne gives birth inside a traditional Sienese home – everyday items depicted

•What would it look like if an artist TODAY did the same scene in a modern setting?

•St. Anne is resting as women warh newborn Mary in a basin•Left: St. Joachim, Mary’s dad, is in an antechamber hearing the news of the birth of his daughter

•Windows open up to reveal further arches and wall spaces beyond – shows depth•Piers create architectural interest but don’t separate the space – it’s still two rooms (not 3)

SALA DELLA PACE, by Ambrogio LorenzettiSiena city hall, Siena, Italy 1338-40 (14th cen.), fresco

•Siena city council commissioned Lorenzetti to paint these frescoes in city hall’s council room - results of good and bad government

Artist: Ambrogio Lorenzetti, GOOD GOVERNMENT IN THE CITY AND THE

COUNTRY, 1338-1340 (14th cen.), fresco, Public Palace, Siena

•In the Public Palace in Siena where judges met to discuss issues of Sienese law•Ambrogio signed it! •Inscriptions in Latin and Italian – society was pretty literate at this time, hooray!

•Cityscape from a high viewpoint (a tower?) – overlooks Siena, a prosperous town w/ efficient laws (although dancing in the streets was technically illegal)•Shows success of good gvt. and peace/joy from it

•Sienna is awesome! – schools open, crafts flourishing, new buildings under construction, good food brought into city (all this is shown in here)

Here it is in Siena (and the country one…)

•Here’s the country part of the fresco•Peaceful villas across the landscape (high view)•Vineyards, orchards, bountiful harvest•Port in the background – showing shipment of goods

•Figure of “Security” holding a gallows – ensuring fair justice for all•Aristocrats leaving town to falconing (use a trained bird of prey to hunt game)•Farmers bringing livestock and grain to market

Sculpture time! •Italian Gothic sculpture has more classical influences than the northern stuff (France, England, etc.)•Nicola Pisano’s work strongly attached to Roman forms – his figures have solid mass with realistic drapery•Still a trend of crowded composition (kind of like horror vacui, lots of stuff stacked on top of one another)•Principal scene is big, secondary scenes compete for attention

PISA PULPITby Giovanni Pisano

1302-1310 (14th cen.)

marble,in Pisa Cathedral

•Scenes separated

•Figures move dynamically, not as static as Nicola Pisano’s

•Deep shadows – deep cuts

•Inspired by French Gothic more than classical Roman

•This is in here (cathedral)

Nicola Pisano, THE PISA PULPIT

1259-1260 (13th cen.), Pisa Baptistery, Pisa, Italy

I know, I know, it looks a LOT like the other one by the OTHER Pisano. Small world!

It’s in there (baptistery)

•Five panels circle around elevated pulpit•Gothic Corinthian capitals closer to ancient capitals than French Gothic style•Antique lions at base

Let’s see a detail from it…

THE ANNUNCIATION AND NATIVITY, FROM THE PISA PULPIT 1259-1260 (13th cen.), Pisa Baptistery, Pisa, Italy

•Very crowded composition, figures layered•Massive amounts of realistic drapery

•Bodies are stocky and solid-looking•Facial expressions and gestures are lively – figures communicate w/ each other (like in Italian paintings)

VIRGIN AND CHILD, 1339 (14th cen.)Silver gilt and enamel

-Originally in the Abbey Church of Saint-Denis (now at Louvre in Paris)

Let’s hop over to France for a minute…

•Donated by Queen Jeanne d’Evreux•Mary holds Jesus in her left arm – creates counterweight with her body – creates graceful S-curve pose – very Gothic•Fluid drapery (heavy silk)•Would have had a crown on originally•Holds scepter topped with jeweled “fleur-de-lis – symbol of French royalty – was a reliquary for a few strands of Mary’s hair

•Mary has a sweet, youthful face•Simple clothing•Christ looks baby-like in his proportions and gestures (realism)

•At the base of the sculpture is a scene of Christ’s Passion – a reminder of the suffering that is to come

Some vocabulary before you go…•ALLEGORY: work of art which possesses a symbolic meaning in addition to a literal interpretation (in literature, a fable is an allegory)•ALTARPIECE: a painted or sculpted panel set on an altar of a church•CAMPANILE: a bell tower for an Italian building•INTERNATIONAL GOTHIC STYLE: a style of 14th and 15th century painting, begun by Simone Martini – characterized by elegant and intricate interpretations of naturalistic subjects, and minute detailing and patterning in drapery and color, catering to an aristocratic taste

a bit more…•MAESTA: a painting of the Virgin Mary as enthroned Queen of Heaven surrounded by angels and saints•MANIERA GRECA: (Italian for “Greek manner”) a style of painting based on Byzantine models that was popular in Italy in the 12th and 13th centuries•PREDALLA: the base of an altarpiece that is filled iwht small paintings, often narrative scenes•TEMPERA: Everyone’s favorite! – a type of paint using egg yolk as the binding medium that is noted for its quick drying rate and flat, opaque colors•TRECENTO: the 1300’s (14th century) in Italian art

FIN