Chapter 19
ITALY, 1200 TO 1400
1. Lecture Strategies and Key Ideas.
This chapter explores Italian art of the 14th century and the art of Giotto,
considered the first “modern” and Renaissance painter. While many were
expressing an increased interest in the natural world, it was Giotto who
wished to capture in paint and fresco the actual world he saw, using the tools
of perspective and naturalism that presages the Renaissance to come.
His personal, natural and direct style markeds the beginning of modern
Western art. His painted faces shed tears. His donkeys even had whiskers!
Humanism was an essential component of this new trend. The style known
as Maniera Greca is contrasted to Giotto’s style. Maniera Greca reflected
the art of Byzantium and was characteristic of the medieval worldview of
things. This style dominated 14th century Italian art, especially Siennese art,
until Giotto made the first great break with this tradition. Giotto developed a
new way of seeing and painting: “Great New Art,” first seen in Giotto’s
“Madonna Enthroned” (FIG. 19-7) and later in “Lamentation” (FIG. 19-9)
and Padua frescos (19-1).
Later, the chapter describes the art of Duccio and the International Style of
Martini. The Lorenzetti brothers were among the first to explore spatial
illusionism in their paintings, evident in their “Peaceful City” and “Peaceful
Country” (FIG. 19-16 and 19-17). The chapter concludes with a discussion
of the Florence Cathedral and Milan Cathedral, Romanesque designs with
Gothic elements in their naves and vaulting.
Patronage. The numerous city-states in Italy were growing wealthy and
combative, and the competition between them benefited artists whose
patrons now included the city-states of Florence, Naples, Milan, Modena and
Sienna. The period saw more secularism and more money and hence a
change in the character of art.
“Heads Up.” There is an interesting discussion of artist names discussed on
page 498 in Fresco Painting.
Human Body in Art. Students should concentrate on the similarities and
differences apparent in Cimabue’s “Madonna Enthroned” (FIG. 19-7) and in
Giotto’s rendition of the same subject (FIG. 19-8). Show both paintings and
let the new art of Giotto “sink in” for students. They should identify
Madonna as a “living” human being with human characteristics as opposed
to the static Madonna of Cimabue. Cimabue painted the concept of a
Madonna while Giotto painted her full and expressive human body.
(Teachers, be careful not to give the impression that Giotto’s style is better
that Maniera Greca, only different, and was the result of a host of influences
and Giotto’s individual genius.)
Narrative in Art. Have students explain the story being told by Giotto’s
“Lamentation” (FIG. 19-9) and explore how he used a “stage” in which to
show the story. The figures appear as a still life, each reflecting a different
emotion as they view the body of Christ. Even the little floating angels
agonize.
2. Key Vocabulary.
Maniera Greca
Pulpit
Lamentation
Chiaroscuro perspective
Duccio
Lorenzetti Brothers
stigmata
Cimabue
grisaille
Saint Francis
Giotto’s Great New Style
fresco painting
“Mary in Majesty”
International Style Martini
plague
3. Key Images from Gardner’s Art Through the Ages
Artist
Maniera Greca
Nicolo Pisano
Giovanni Pisano
Cimabue
Giotto
Giotto
Giotto
Duccio
Martini
Lorenzetti
Gardner
FIG. Number
19-1
19-2
19-4
19-7
19-8
19-1
19-9
19-10
19-13
19-16/17
Cambio
Venice
19-18
19-21
Subject
Saint Francis
Pulpit at Pisa
Pulpit
Madonna
Madonna
Arena Chapel
Lamentation
Virgin and Child
Annunciation
City and Country
Key Idea
Byzantine style
Classicizing
Gothic dynamics
Maniera Greca
Great New Style
New naturalism
Giotto’s humanism
Siena style
International Style
Perspective,
landscape, allegory
Florence Cathedral Italy 14th century
Doge’s Palace
Italian Gothic
4. Websites. A good source of online websites that contains images for all Art History,
including pre-historic art, is found at http://www.art-design.umich.edu/mother/
Fine close-up images of Cimabue’s art at
http://www.christusrex.org/www2/art/Cimabue.htm
For more on Giotto and the Arena Chapel and its recent restoration see
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1769744.stm
Several “Quick Time Virtual Reality” tours of Florence’s Cathedral are at
http://www.fullscreenqtvr.com/firenze_cattedrale/
5. Questions: Each chapter of Gardner’s Art Through the Ages textbook
has a corresponding quiz and test in the “Instructor’s Manual.” The CDROM allows teachers to choose which questions to use and to create and
print quizzes and tests.
Essay Questions.
1. Show: Giotto, Arena Chapel (frescos, 1305) FIG 19-1 and Giotto,
Lamentation fresco from the Arena Chapel (fresco, 1305) FIG. 19-9.
Question: Identify the artist responsible for the decoration of this chapel.
What innovations in painting did he undertake that challenged the current
style of his time? (8 minutes.)
Students should recognize the work of Giotto and discuss his new
naturalism, softness, details and emotionalism and see how it contrasts with
the Byzantine-inspired Maniera Greca of his contemporaries.
2. Show Cimabue’s “Madonna Enthroned” (FIG. 19-7) and Giotto’s
“Madonna Enthroned.” (FIG. 19-8).
Question. Which of these two paintings is in the style of Maniera Greca and
which is by Giotto? What characterizes Giotto’s painting from the other?
Students should explain that Giotto’s Madonna (FIG. 19-8) is a “living”
naturalistic human being, with personalized characteristics and expression,
as opposed to the more static Madonna of Cimabue. Cimabue painted the
concept of a Madonna while Giotto painted an actual full and expressive
human being.