Introduction: The Proto-Renaissance Styleand International Gothic

Map of Proto-Renaissance Europe, c.1350.

Proto-Renaissance

Dates and Places: • 1300-1400• Northern Italian

Republics (Milan, Mantua, Bologna, Padua, etc. )

People:• Decline in feudalism• Social stability• Little threat of warfare• Thriving trade market• Private patrons

Giotto di Bondone, Enrico Scrovegni dedicating chapel (scene from Arena Chapel), c. 1305. Fresco, 78” x

77.” Padua, Italy.

Florentine Painting

Example: • Fresco program in

family chapel • Pioneer of naturalistic

treatment of figures• Drapery reveals body • Emotional expression• Shallow, illusionistic

space for narrative• Overlapping used to

create illusion of space

Giotto di Bondone, Lamentation (scene from Arena Chapel), c. 1305. Fresco, 78” x

77.” Padua, Italy.

Florentine PaintingExample: • Giotto (1267-1336/7)• Private patron

(Scrovegni)• Style based on

Byzantine and Early Roman frescoes, sculpture of Pisano– Each figure separate

geometric body in three dimensional form

– Naturalistic features– Expressive emotion

Giotto di Bondone, The Crucifixion (scene from Arena Chapel), c. 1305. Fresco, 78” x 77.” Padua,

Italy.

Giotto di Bondone, Arena Chapel left (exterior) and right ( Interior of the Arena Chapel, facing east.) Padua, Italy.

Proto-Renaissance

Example: • Theotokos= “God-bearer”• Marriage of Byzantine and

Gothic elements• Figures have weight• Division of space symbolically

and formally• Influence of Italian architecture

Giotto di Bondone, Madonna Enthroned, ca. 1310. Tempera on panel, 10’8” x

6’8”. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. Fig. 12.10

Proto-Renaissance

Social/Political/Economic:

• Ruling families competing

• Black Death (1348-1350)– Estimated 75-200

million dead– Spread through Silk

Road

Map of Silk Route via land and water.

Sienese Painting

Duccio di Buoninsegna, Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints, 1308–1311. Tempera on panel, Museo dell’ Opera del Duomo. Fig. 12.11.

“Holy Mother of God, be the cause of peace to Siena, and to the life of Duccio because he has painted you thus.

Sienese PaintingExample: • Altarpiece • Theotokos• Wood panels• Civic pride• Cult of the Virgin Mary• Shifting from Italo-

Byzantine to more naturalistic style

• Influence of tapestry industry

• More dynamic posture and fluidity of fabric

Duccio di Buoninsegna, Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints, 1308–

1311. Tempera on panel, Museo dell’ Opera del Duomo. Fig. 12.11.

Proto-Renaissance Example: • Rivals (Florence vs.

Siena)• Italian humanism • Increasing interest in

antiquity and study of Roman sculpture

• Growing naturalism of figures and spaces

• Cimabue = Italo-Byzantine

• Giotto anticipates Renaissance

Left: CIMABUE, Madonna Enthroned with Angels and

Prophets, ca. 1280–1290. Fig. Right: GIOTTO DI BONDONE,

Madonna Enthroned, ca. 1310. Fig. 12.10

Sienese Painting

Ambrogio Lorenzetti, The Allegory of Good and Bad Government, 1338-1340. Fresco, Sale della Pace, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena. Fig. 12.12

Sienese Painting

Example:• Public

commission• Civic content, not

religious• Combines color of

Duccio and naturalism of Giotto

• Allegory of morality

Ambrogio Lorenzetti, The Allegory of Good and Bad Government, 1338-

1340. Fresco, Sale della Pace, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena. Fig. 12.12

Sienese Painting

Example:• Assembly of virtues

rule good government (present are Justice, Wisdom, Pax (relaxes)

• Large, middle figure personification of Siena (hierarchy of images)

Ambrogio Lorenzetti, detail The Allegory of Good and Bad Government, 1338-1340. Fresco, Sale della Pace, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena.

Sienese Painting

Example:• Ambrogio Lorenzetti,

The Common Good of Siena personified and flanked by the Classical Virtues. Romulus and Remus are at his feet. Soldiers lead captive Florentines on the lower right. Ambrogio Lorenzetti, detail The Allegory of

Good and Bad Government, 1338-1340. Fresco, Sale della Pace, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena.

Sienese PaintingExample:• Tyranny sits surrounded by

vices (avarice, pride, and vainglory) in an inversion of the Allegory of Good Government.

• Joining Tyranny in an architecture of war are personifications of treason, cruelty, fraud, fury, war, and divisiveness

• At Tyranny’s feet Justice is shown boundAmbrogio Lorenzetti, detail The Allegory of Good and Bad Government, 1338-1340. Fresco, Sale

della Pace, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena.

Sienese Painting

Example:• Combines color of

Duccio and naturalism of Giotto

• Effects of good government in the city shows people happy, dancing, a good economy

Ambrogio Lorenzetti, detail The Effects of Good Government in the city, from the Siena frescoes 1338-1340. Fresco, Sale della Pace, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena.

Sienese Painting

Example:• City is shown in disarray• Buildings in poor

condition, an atmosphere of fear and violence rules

• Violent acts dominate the scene

Ambrogio Lorenzetti, detail The Effects of Bad Government in the city, from the Siena frescoes

1338-1340. Fresco, Sale della Pace, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena.

International Gothic StyleDates and Places: • mid 13th through mid 14th

centuries• France, Flanders,

Germany, Spain, Bohemia, Austria, England, etc.

• Flourishes within the Proto-Renaissance period

People:• Nobles and merchants• Pious and prosperous• Interested in visible world

Gentile da Fabriano , The Adoration of the Magi, 1423.

Tempera on wood, 80” x 111.” Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

International Gothic Style

Example: • Developed as a result of

common aesthetic of courtly elegance

• Exhibits Gothic influence.• Simone Martini major

contributor to development of style

• Words from Gabriel’s mouth, “Hail favored one! The Lord is with you

• Epitomizes period through lavish costumes, brilliant color, intricate detail and ornamentation

Simone Martini and Lippo Menni, The Annunciation, 1333.

Tempera on panel, 72 ½” x 82 5/8.” Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

International Gothic StyleExample: • Created for Siena Cathedral.• Characteristic of artist’s style is the

work’s elegant shapes, rich color, weightless figures, use of gold and punchwork technique, and fluttering line.

• Simone Martini adapts French Gothic style with Sienese and fuses these with influences from Northern Europe.

• Arch and delicate filigree recall Gothic architecture.

• Themes and decoration appeal to royal courts.

• Use of symbolism– Gold = divinity– Lilies=Mary’s purity

Simone Martini and Lippo Menni, The Annunciation, 1333.

Tempera on panel, 72 ½” x 82 5/8.” Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

Northern Europe

Dates and Places: • 1400 to 1500• Burgundy, Flanders,

France and the Holy Roman Empire

People:• Nobles and merchants• Pious and prosperous• Interested in visible world Claus Sluter, Well of Moses,

from the Chartreuse de Champmol, 1395–1406. Stone,

height of figures approx. 6’. Fig. 13.1.

Northern Europe

Example: • Originally known as The

Great Cross (now lost)• Monument in Carthusian

cloister housing remains of Philip the Bold and family

• Old Testament Prophets • New Testament• Naturalistic style break

with medieval style• Expressionistic angels

Claus Sluter, Well of Moses, from the Chartreuse de

Champmol, 1395–1406. Stone, height of figures approx. 6’.

Fig. 13.1.

International Gothic Style

Themes:• Mix of religious and political• Personal aggrandizement • Feudalism

Forms:• Joins French Gothic with 14th

century Italian naturalism• Book of Prayers= private,

devotional use• Mix of religious piety with

astronomy and astrology• Division of classes

Limbourg Brothers, Les Trés Riches Heires du Duc de Berry, calendar

miniature for July, 1413-1416. Illumination on vellum, 8 7/8” x 5 3/8.” Musée Condé, Chantilly, France. Fig.

13.2

International Gothic Style

Example:• Extremely detailed

– Possible inspiration for Northern Renaissance (especially Flemish)

• Observed from nature• Caricature of poor

Limbourg Brothers, Les Trés Riches Heires du Duc de Berry, calendar miniature for February, 1413-1416. Illumination on vellum, 8 7/8” x 5

3/8.” Musée Condé, Chantilly, France.