Coppo di Marcovaldo, Madonna and Child. C. 1265. Panel. S. Martino dei Servi, Orvieto

[image]

Form: This is a large size painting, it is a wood panel frame that was painted with oil paint over gesso and real gold leaf flakes to create the bright gold coloring. 

Content: The subject matter of this piece is Mary and Jesus Christ as a child. We can see her sitting on what appears to be a throne holding Christ on her right side, our left, and we see two angles above them/behind the throne. We also see a halo around her head. 

Iconography: This is a piece from the Byzantine art era, which was in the late 13th century in Constantinople. We see that Mary is in the center with Christ on her right hip, and if we look at the angles we see the symmetry of almost a mirrored image. Mary is the center because she is what connects humankind to Christ to go to heaven, so we are starting to see her as a greater figure because she is what connects us, hence why she is wearing a crown, to show that she is the queen of Heaven. Christ the child we see him holding out his hand giving us the blessing. 

Context: The context is to show that Mary is a greater figure than we see, she connects us to Heaven through Christ and we can see that with her holding the child and with the crown places on her head. With the usage of the gold flakes as the background was so, we can indicate Heaven shining down on us, and the angles are faced towards Mary but they are also looking down on us as the viewer. These painters at this time in the century also made Mary's body figure longer in shape than a more women figure because they wanted the people to not get distracted by a woman's figure, they wanted to look at the paintings and find the more religious path of when they see the paintings. The use of the gold flakes also helps indicate the line work within the draping of the fabric and the clothing and with indicating the features of the body that is under the clothing.

Vocabulary:

Line: also can be a contour line, which defines a form or an edge

Cimabue. Enthroned Madonna and Child with Angels and Prophets. C. 1280.Panel. Uffizi Gallery Florence. Commissioned for the high altar of Sta. Trinita, Florence

[image]

Form: This medium is oil and gold leaf on a wooden panel/canvas. The scale of this piece is a larger scale, and the composition of the piece is a more symmetrical piece. It is a more naturalistic piece and portrays the human figure of Mary and the Child, along with the angles and prophets down below, it contains also a bit of three-dimensionality within the two-dimensional format.

Content: The content of the piece is showing a woman in blue seated on a throne/chair holding a child, there are figures surrounding her with gold rings around their head, and at the bottom, we see 4 male figures.

Iconography: The woman in blue that is holding the child is known as Madonna, the child is the Child of Christ, of Christianity. The figures surrounding her are the angels, we know this due to the halo around their heads, down below are the 4 males who are prophets, we know this due to them holding scrolls. The gesture of Madonna/Mary's hand shows that she is telling us that this child is our lord and savior. 

Context: The context of this piece is the same as Duccio's and Giotto's pieces. We have a Mary the Virgin with her child Christ and angels that are equally on both sides of them. She is seated in a thrown because she is the bridge that connects us human to Jesus himself that allow us to enter Heaven. She is pointing to Jesus in this piece because she is pointing out that he is our reason Heaven is real and he is the key to it, being the son of God. The child we see is holding up his hand as if he is giving the audience his blessing and in the other, he is holding a scroll of the Old Testament, and if we look at the bottom we can also see the prophets, Isiah, David, Abraham, and Jeremiah. They are stylized as long weightless, figures and Mary is sitting on an unnaturalistic throne. Cimabue used light and dark to create an illusion of 3-D form. Also, gold was used to create the illusion of a drapery fold within the clothing. This piece was commissioned by a confraternity, who were dedicated to society to charitable or religious works, mainly for the public. 

Vocabulary:

Chiaroscuro: it is the contrast between light and dark to model three dimensional forms in a painting or drawing to achieve a sense of volume

Jacopo Torriti. Coronation of the Virgin. C. 1294. Apse Mosaic. Sta. Maria Maggiore, Rome.

[image]

Form: The material used in this famous painting is oil paint. Besides a canvas, this artist was commissioned to paint on the ceiling of a church. It is a large-scale painting and creates a lot of space within the dome area. The scale of the figures is predominantly large-scale. The overall look of this work is a lot of patterns, natural/organic, and even geometric works. It also has a vast variety of colors and gold to it. 

Content: I believe the content of this piece was to show the process of how Mary came to be with being a higher figure. In the center, we can see her getting a crown placed on her head by what looks like Jesus, and if we look below we see events that could be part of her life and a story of how she got to be. The gold still looks like it represents heaven. 

Iconography: The symbolism of Mary and Christ both being seated on the throne shows a sense of being rulers, but not of a country, it's of Heaven, Mary is being crowned by Jesus because she is known as the Queen of heaven because she is the bridge/link of god. 

Context: Pope Nicolas IV commissioned the artist to execute this mosaic. Main subject depicts a new iconography developed on France earlier in the century, depicting the Coronation of Virgin Mary. Christ crowns Mary as Queen of Heaven. Any work of art that glorifies the Virgin Mary by definition celebrated and glorified the Roman Catholic Church and papacy. In the painting they are surrounded by angels and antique-style foliate vines. Symmetry flanked by 2 kneeling and six standing figures. Kneeling figures are donors. Pope Nicholas IV, Cardinal Jacpop Colonna, St. Peter, St.Paul St. Francis, St John Baptist, John the Eangelist and St. Anthony. Scenes of the life of Virgin appear beneath the apse including Nativity, offering of the Magi, and the dormition (death) of Mary.

Vocabulary:

Texture: visual and tactile quality of the surface of a piece of art

Giotto. Enthroned Madonna with Saints (Ognissanti Madonna) c. 1305-10. Panel.Uffizi Gallery

[image]

Form: A large-scale painting, created on multiple wood planks that are attached to the back. This was then covered in gesso and egg tempera paint was used to produce the figures, while gold leaf was used to create the golden background. The painting of the woman in the middle takes up a good volume of space with herself being seated on a throne, while the other figures are either pressed up against the chair or cut off by the frame With the three-dimensionality of the figures and the chair we see 3 different angles within the piece.

Content: The content of the piece is we see a largely sized woman, not accurate proportional size, holding a child with an adult-like face sitting on a throne that looks like the walls of a church, both with a halo over their head. On the sides, we see many figures that surround them looking up at them. We also see two angles on the bottom to the left and the right with candles and the background is a bright golden color.

Iconography: The woman in the blue dress that sits on the throne with a child is the Virgin Mary (Madonna) and the child of Christ. They are the key, the bridge to Heaven, Christ is the lord and savior that Mary has birthed. The halos around the heads indicate a symbolism of the heavens, Also we know the figures below are angels due to the halos and wings.

Context: This painting was commissioned by a man named Humiliati, it was for the decoration of the church. This is a smaller scale of Madonna and Child Enthroned compared to Cimabue and Duccio's pieces. It was also produced later in the early 14th century. The obvious difference in this piece is that Mary has more volume in her body figure. This means that she fits more firmly into her chair and yes the size of her overall body compared to the frame is large but it's more proportionate in scale than the other two. We can also see breasts and the contour of the shadows on her neck. The drapery of the fabric she wears looks heavy like wool and we don't see the contour lines of the drapers due to the limited use of gold on the body itself and only seen on a pattern on the edges of the clothing. This piece was made to create an illusion of dimension as well through the architecture of the throne, the wings of it come out towards us and we can see the old testament prophets behind the cut windows of the throne. The steps also move into our space, allowing the painting to look like a window. The large areas of gold were to express the light of heaven. By giving us three angles to look at this painting Giotto thought about the viewer's placement. His choice of painting is different compared to Cimabue and Duccio shows the change from late medieval to the Renaissance.

Vocabulary:

Confraternity: an important group within the Lay people in the Catholic church who would collectively among the people of Italy and promoted charity and would give the public the same amount of religion and spiritualness to those who cannot enter the greater part of the church. 

Giotto.Last Judgement. c.1305. Fresco. Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel. Padua

[image]

Form: The size of this painting was done at a large scale, it is within a church wall, Giotto was able to add much three-dimensional detail, naturalism, color, pattern, and storytelling. He made sure that he used little negative space to make sure he incorporated all subject matters within this wall, it looks like gold was not used but was simply paint, oil paint, that created this mural of a piece.

Content: A large, busy colorful piece of important people of not only the church but of the Bible, angels in the middle holding a cross with Jesus at the top, looks like the people on the left are either going to Heaven or waiting to talk to the 3 figures at the bottom waiting to enter, on the right seems to be weird creatures and darker looming colors, not as bright. 

Iconography: The 3 figures holding the pink house at the bottom are Virgin Mary and 2 figures, the man on the ground kneeling next to them is Enrico Scroviegn giving the chapel he built for them to show "good work" earning a way to Heaven. The figure in the circle at the top is Jesus welcoming people who entered Heaven with Mary's blessing and then sending away the ones not welcomed over the right. The angels are holding the cross indicating what Jesus sacrificed for us, showing us Heaven.

Context: This painting was commissioned by a wealthy man named Enrico Scroviegn, son of a wealthy banker. They think the motivation for building the chapel and having it decorated by Giotto was to atone for the sin of usury. A way of doing "good work". Enrico is also placed in the painting of the Last Judgment where he is shown on the blessed side kneeling down presenting the chapel to the Virgin Mary and 2 others. Having the paintings depicted on an actual wall and not on canvas allowed viewers to understand the meaning for people in the 14th century. This story on the wall is about the life of Mary, starting with her parents, Joachin and Anna, along with Christ. This was the final painting of the story. Having this painting was also a resource in the church due to most not seeing or having a source of the bible so they listened to the priest while looking up at the paintings to get a bigger picture of the religion. 

Vocabulary:

Stendhal Syndrome: according to Maghernini, psychosomatic indications of a viewer's inability to control the emotional and psychological impact of cultural contact with artistic genius, usually affect non-Italian people.

Giotto.The Expulsion of Joachim from the Temple. c.1305. Fresco. Arena

[image]

Form: Compared to other parts of the Arena Chapel, it is a smaller size in proportion, we can also see that it is a more empty space than other scenes, it focuses on more architecture of the temple, and the blue colored sky also is a bright color to show emptiness. There are also only 3 figures shown in the painting, there is also a 3-D attribution to the painting.

Content: We see 4 male figures within this scene, they are located in a building, a temple where worship happens and it looks as if a higher power is pushing a figure away from the church and another higher figure is welcoming a younger male into the church behind them. It also could either be day or night outside.

Iconography: The architecture in the painting symbolizes the temple of the church where Joachim was coming to give a lamb to repent and be allowed to return to the church, but we can see the priest pushing him away sending him off, not welcoming him. We see another priest welcoming a younger figure into the church, while Joachim is older.

Context: In this scene, we see that Joachim, Mary's father is dismissed from the church despite bringing a lamb as a sign of truthfulness to God. Pushed away because of age and due to him and his wife Anna not being able to bear a child, if they were not able to bear a child, they were in the displeasure of God and it was because of a sin that one or the other committed at some point in time. We see a younger man being allowed in behind him ad we can see where age comes into play with the course of being accepted in the faith.

Vocabulary:
Naturalism: type of art that will pay close attention to faint and accurate detail within a work, and will portray the subject as it is, such as details within the human face 

Giotto.Meeting at the Golden Gate. c.1305. Fresco. Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel.Padua.

[image]

Form: Along with like others within the Arena Chapel, this piece is an oil painting/mural that was painted on the wall of the Arena chapel. It has a vast amount of color with the blue sky and the colors of the fabric of clothing the figures wear. Its size is a small painting within the room but size dimension wise within the painting, it comes out disproportionate with the building being close in size with the figures

Content: We see a woman and man hugging/kissing within the front entrance of what looks like a village/town/castle. We see speculators/people in the back seeing the two happily reunite, mainly women. On the left we see a younger man, more poor looking holding what looks to be a stick. The building is smaller in comparison to the figures.

Iconography: The 2 figures kissing are Mary's father and mother, Joachim and Anna. They are symbolized with a halo around their head because they have been blessed by the heavens with having a baby. The entrance of the building is golden in color due to it being the Golden Gate of entering Jerusalem where Christ is said to be born. We have the building architectural elements that symbolize a complex reality.

Context: Joachim received a revelation from an angel about his and Anna's future pregnancy, He returns to Jerusalem to tell Anna but Anna has the same thing happen to her and she ran out to meet him at the Golden Gate entrance to reunite and celebrate with a kiss. While this is happening we see the spectators around with happy emotions on their faces, same with the shepherd boy who helped carry Joachim's belongings back for him. The shrunken building allows us to see a better look at the emotions on the faces of the figures surrounding it. This is explained by Trecento's convention. Architecture is relatively large and people are small, to apply the same scale to both would mean reducing the figures to a point where the story could be read by only up close, or omitting all but the lower portions of the buildings, hence it helps reflect the emotions in the figures.

Vocabulary:

Proportion: a painting, determines the dimensions and composition within a piece and the relationship between the height, width, and depth

Giotto.the raising of Lazarus. c.1305. Fresco. Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel.Padua

[image]

Form: This is again a smaller scale painting on the walls of the Arena Chaple. We see the bright blue background, and we also see more colors within the robes/clothing, including a light green color. There are more figures taking up the space of the painting, and we have little landscape showing with the hill and trees in the background. We can also see more texture within the piece due to the clothing and the earth formation. 

Content: In the content of the piece we see a man in the foreground right corner bent over, maybe sleeping or something happened where his back is turned from us. Also in the foreground, we see 2 figures kneeling down to Jesus, praying to him. On the left, we see Jesus and a group of people behind him and Jesus looks like he is blessing the people that stand before him. To the right, we see 2 women covered in clothing, both up to their noses, one looks like a mummy, and 2 men in front, one who looks like he's blocking away Jesus.

Iconography:

Context: Lazarus's sisters Mary and Martha prostrate themselves before the Christ in supplication, he calls to their brother from the dead with a simple gesture. Giotto includes traditional figures who cover their noses, naturalism means that such details never seem out of the ordinary, and it is divided by diagonal, vertical, and rhythmic curves. On the right-hand side, we see the back of a man and Giotto uses this man as an expressive device of a workman. The pale green-colored robe man has a rust-colored shadow which was recorded in Cennini's book. We see coloristic freedom within the veins of the marbled tomb where the workman is bent over picking up. Christ's blue undergarment was rendered in a pigment that Cennini said could not be painted in the fresco and therefore had to be added a secco. This scene is another part of Christ and his life story and in this scene, it is almost a parallel to the Old Testament of God creating Adam.                                                                               

Vocabulary: 

Iconography:  a particular range or system of types of images used by an artist or artists to convey particular meanings

Giotto.Suitors Present the Rods.c.1305. Fresco. Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel.Padua.

[image]

Form: The form again is a smaller size piece in the Arena Church. There is a subject matter between the figures and the architectural aspects. The bright blue background is here again to represent the sky, and once again we see more color within the clothing of the figures wear. In the architecture, we see more geometric patterns within the walls where the windows would be and the pattern below the man in red.

Content: In the content, we can see a group of men waiting in line to drop off what seems to be a rod/stick to the man that is stationed inside the alter formation of the building. The man on the right looks like he is supervising what is taking place as these men take their turns.

Iconography: The men on the left are suitors waiting in line to get praised by the priest, once they come in line they hand their rod, as a present to god and they kneel before the altar. The man inside the alter is a priest who will help them toward their way in religion. The blue sky color represents the sky towards the heavens and the building symbolizes the temple of worship.

Context: Suitors file into the Tempel to lay their rods on the altar. All look uniformly young except for Joseph in the back of the line. Suitors and rabbis all kneel before the altar and watch for the rods with prayerful intensity, yet nothing happens, and there is no theological purpose, this contributes to creating the dramatic tension of the moment and by extension to the symbol and importance of eve.

Vocabulary:

Symmetry: the work of art is the same on one side as the other, a mirror image of itself, on both sides of a centerline.

Duccio. Maestà. 1308-11. Central Front Panel (Madonna). Museodell 'OperadelDuomo, Siena

[image]

Form: The scale of the piece is considerably large. We can see the woman figure Mary, is the largest of them all and with the volume created, in 3-D, we see that that volume takes up the space within the piece. Again we see the immense use of gold as the main background of the piece, and the attention to detail within the gold around the heads of everyone. We also notice the architecture of the thrown and it had a 3-D form to it as well and takes out space. 

Content: We notice a large-scaled woman holding an adult-like face child on her lap. Around her, we see the many figures, kneeling, or standing before her, many with objects in their hands. We see more vibrant colors being used such as blue and red and gold.

Iconography: The halos around their heads indicate them being one with heaven or they are angels, prophets, or saints. The throne indicates Mary being the Queen of Heavens, and the child is the Child of Christ or Jesus. The color of blue that is used on Mary's clothing indicates the importance of the role she plays is the intercessor between beings and christ. The gold flakes indicate the light from heaven.

Context: This is just one large panel from the large piece of work that Duccio has done for the Siena Chapel. This was on the front of the panel including more telling the story of Mary's life. Besides Mary being the largest figure, the figures around them are more life-size. On the bottom, we see 4 saints, and as the next 2 rows go up we see angles, and at the top we see prophets. With the depiction of Christ, the child we can see he is gripping his clothing and almost in a way is being a model in the way his hands are placed. The emotion on his face shows a more mature look of awareness like he is looking right at you.

Vocabulary:

Patronage: someone who acts as a patron to or supports charities, organizations, and individuals that work in or concern the arts

Duccio. Maestà Reconstruction of the front. Digitized reconstruction by LewMinte

[image]

Form: The piece's shape and size look fairly large and it is like a replication of a church. We can see the panel in the middle is the largest compared to the others. We still see the gold around being used, produced by craftsmen pounding down gold. There is a story being told. 

Content: We can see that it is a digitalized formate of what was once an art piece, we see that it is large and contains many panels. We can see the same woman in almost all the panels and it's creating a story based on her life and how she became the center of all these figures that surround her.

Iconography: The shape/architecture of the building is shaped like a chapel because the original piece was commissioned in the Siena Chapel. The gold resembles the heavens above. Mary is the large woman in the center panel and we can also see her in all the panels because this is another version of the story of her life. 

Context: This was a digitalized version of the original painting by Duccio. This piece indicates important information about the way in which Siena citizens understood their veneration of the Virgin and how she protects the city in both religious and civic terms. It is also an indication of how highly regarded the alter was in the day. 

Vocabulary:

Visual Rhetoric: use of visual images to create meaning, also how culture and meaning are reflected, communicated, and altered by images.

Duccio. The Rucellai Madonna.C. 1285. Panel. Uffizi, Florence.

[image]

Form: Just like Cimabue and Giotto's pieces, this is a larger scale painting on a wood panel painted with egg tempura paint. There is also a large amount of gold leaf in the piece. Mary is a large figure in the placement of this piece and with the throne being a more 3-D architecture piece we see the dimension and volume between Mary and the throne. 

Content: We see a large gold painting with a large female figure in the center on a chair made of wood and fabric holding a child. We see 6 figures around her, 3 on each side, and along the edge of the frame, we can see small painted figures in the circle shapes. 

Iconography: The gold leaf indicates the light shining down from the Heavens. The halos around the heads of Mary, Christ, and the angels show the connection of those figures to the Heavens. We know the 6 figures around Mary are angels due to the wings and the halos. The other important people of the church are on the edges and they are the saints and prophets. 

Context: If Mary were to stand up in this piece she would be 3x the height of what she should actually be. This piece was commissioned by a confraternity to focus on prayer at Rucellai Chapel. If we look closely at the angels we can see that they are kneeling but if we look at the position of their hands we can see that they are almost holding the chair as if they brought her and Christ down from the Heavens to the ground because they want to help us focus on prayer and devotion. Virgin/Child is an important spiritual image that was accessible to the laity (ordinary people). The throne is highly decorated and the gold helps indicate the volume of the chair. With the cloth behind Mary, we know that it indicates the cloth of honor. Saints are also portrayed in the circles that are painted on the edge of the piece.

Vocabulary:

Iconographic analysis: art historians look at the icons or symbols in a work to discover the work's original meaning or intent

Simone Martini. Maestà. Between 1311 and 1317. Fresco. Council Chamber,Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

[image]

Form: This is a large-scale piece that resembles Duccio's Maesta. We can see more painting in a picture frame feel. The use of gold is continued but is not depicted as the whole background, instead, the blue is being used. There is not as much volume in this piece as others it is flatter, except in the area of Mary's dress. We see some architecture but it is more like a tent over the head of Mary and the figures.

Content: We see a woman on the throne with a child and what seems to be outside. They are surrounded by male and female figures with gold rings around their heads. Around the edge of the painting we see separated portraits. The gold edge makes this piece feel like it is a picture within a frame.

Iconography: The figures on the edge represent the saints/prophets that worship people with the word of god and help people learn to god. The woman in the middle is Mary Virgin and Christ's child. The people around us are angels of heaven. The throne indicates Mary the Queen of Heaven.

Context: This has seemed a "retreat" from naturalism because stylistically it "echos" Duccio's Maesta that was on the cathedral's high altar. Functioned as a narrative "extension" of Duccio's earlier work. The artist goes further into the embellishment of the robes and his figures with finely worked gold "embroidery" in the style of Duccio. He deliberated invocation of the archaizing style and demonstrates a way in which artist could consciously alter their styles for specific rhetorical or logistical purposes. Siena's adoption of Mary as the city's patron saint meant that images of the Virgin permeated not only religious spaces but the government as well.

Vocabulary:

Abstraction:  art that does not attempt to represent an accurate depiction of a visual reality but instead uses shapes, colors, forms, and gestural marks to achieve its effect.

Simone Martini. Annunciation with Two Saints. 1333. Panel. Uffizi Gallery,Florence

[image]

Form: A catherdal-like shaped panel, same as Duccio's in the Siena Chapel, large scale, multipaneled. We see 4 figures in the piece and due to all being at different angles we can see more perspectives from any viewpoint. We see the highly decorated wood carvings and an immense amount of gold over tempera paint being used. We also have 4 figure portraits at the top of the panel as well. The wood spiral in the front, placed like columns are allowing us to feel some sort of depth within the piece.

Content: We see a chapel-like frame that is painted a bright gold and the colors of the clothing are like jewel colors. We see a woman sitting in a chair dramatically, while one figure is kneeling in front of her and a figure on either side of them. Looks like a sun in the middle panel, also 4 figures above the bigger figures.

Iconology: The color of the gold is gold leaf and indicates the heavens shining down on us. The woman sitting is Mary Virgin, and the figure below is an angel bowing down to Mary with a fern in his hand as a gift to her. On both sides, the figures are saints holding feathers and another object, on the other hand, they indicate being a part of the church. Mary is sitting on a throne, which shows she is the Queen of the Heavens. The men above the figures are of the 4 prophets.

Context: He received the commission to paint an altarpiece dedicated to Saint Ansanus depicting the Annunciation. It shows so much production value. Simone employed a great deal of gold in the expanse of the background, in Gabriel's robe, the halos, which are richly tooled and embellished with punch work that reflects and refracts the ambient candlelight so the halos would appear to glisten. The composition seems old-fashioned. Virgin seems to recoil at Gabriel's announcement to her. The way her body is positioned results in an elegant and lyrical design. But at the same time, her positioning of her is unrealistic, almost in a sexual manner. While painted in a fairly realistic fashion, they both stand upon bases as if they were statues.

Vocabulary:

Cultural Heritage: an expression of the ways of living developed by a community and passed on from generation to generation, including customs, practices, places, objects, artistic expressions, and values

Ambrogio Lorenzetti. Allegory of Good Government: Effects of Good Governmentin the City and the Country. 1338-39. Fresco. Sala della Pace, Palazzo Pubblico,Siena.

[image]

Form:

Content:

Iconography:

Context:

Vocabulary:

Gold Leaf: gold leaf was used to illuminate architectural settings in the paintings, also associated with the divine, symbolizing the spiritual significance of the decoration