Italy, 1200 – 1400

 


Learning Objectives:

  1. Discuss the formal and iconographic characteristics of fourteenth-century Italian art
  2. Explain how the plague affected artistic production in fourteenth-century Italy
  3. Describe the eole humanism played in fourteenth-century Italian art
  4. Discuss the art and architecture created for monastic orders
  5. Describe the material, formal, and technical characteristics of fourteenth-century Italian architecture
  6. Explain the reintroduction of the optical experience in the art of the fourteenth century


Notes:

Glossary

Altarpiece: a panel that is painted or sculpted representing a religious subject that is placed above and behind an altar in a church. Two panels = diptych; three panels = triptych; multiple panels = polyptych.

Chiaroscuro: literally translated as “light-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.

Fresco: Italian for “fresh.” A mural-painting technique involving the application of permanent lime-proof pigments, diluted in water, on freshly laid lime plaster. (Buon fresco involves the application of pigment on several layers of wet plaster, while fresco secco refers to the painting directly on dried lime plaster.).

Gilding: very thin bounded gold leaf applied with glue to a surface. Emphasizes the spiritual and heavenly subject matter of religious works.

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.

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.

Maestà: 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 translated, “majesty.”

Tempera: a paint made of pigment mixed with egg yolk, glue or casein.

Background

The 13th Century

Art in northern Europe was called “Gothic”Gothic art was negatively compared to the contemporary art of Italy, which was a revival of classical art. Italian artists and scholars thought medieval artworks were distortions of Greek and Roman art. Roman art was very influential on French sculptors.

Frederick II, who was both the king of Sicily and the Holy Roman Emperor admired classical art. He was interested in the past grandness of Rome and helped to create a revival of Roman sculpture in Sicily and southern Italy.

HIs interest in art and architecture was like the renewal that Charlemagne encouraged in Germany 400 years earlier.

Italian Artist Names

Italian Artist Names

Today, people are considered individuals. Given names (first names) are combined with family names (last names) to create your identity. This type of naming was not common in Italy. Individuals were known by place of birth or adopted hometown.

    • Nicola Pisano was known as “Nicholas the Pisan”
    • Giulio Romano was “Julius the Roman”
    • Domenico Veneziano was “the Venetian”
    • Leonardo da Vinci (“Leonard from Vinci”) was from the small town of Vinci.

Art historians refer to these artists by their given name not the name of their town: “Leonardo,” not “da Vinci.” Nicknames were also common.

  • Giorgione was “Big George.”
  • Guido di Pietro was called Fra Angelico (the Angelic Friar).
  • Cenni di Pepo is remembered as Cimabue (“bull’s head”).
  • Tommaso di Cristoforo Fini as Masolino (“Little Thomas”)
  • Distinguished him from his more famous student Masaccio (“Brutish Thomas”).

Names were not permanent and could be changed any time.

This flexibility has resulted in significant challenges for historians, who often must deal with archival documents and records that refer to the same artist by different names.

Media and Techniques

  • Sculpture – Sculpture is usually anything that is in the round, meaning you can walk around it. There are typically three main types.
  • Relief – carvings on a wall or object that are not in the round. A penny has a relief carving on it. Sculptures on the front of a cathedral are relief carvings.
  • In the round – you can physically walk around the sculpture and view it from all sides.
  • Installation – Installation art is a sculpture that surrounds the viewer. It may fill an entire room and is meant to be explored, not just looked at. These types of works are not created until the late 1800’s.
  • Fresco – There are two types of fresco.  Fresco Secco is when an artist applies wet plaster to a wall and then applies paint to the wall. The artist must work very quickly because when the plaster dried, it won’t take any more paint. This type is the most fragile of the two and often falls off the wall. Buon (True) Fresco is created when the artist mixes the plaster with paint and then applies it to the wall. This type of fresco is much stronger and lasts a lot longer.

Byzantine Art

Byzantine art is the name for the artistic products of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from Rome’s decline and lasted until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, many Eastern Orthodox states in Eastern Europe, as well as to some degree the Muslim states of the eastern Mediterranean, preserved many aspects of the empire’s culture and art for centuries afterward. Byzantine art is characterized by its flat backgrounds and almost abstract designs. The figures usually have flat faces and clothing with dark, harsh outlines.

1905

BONAVENTURA BERLINGHIERI, panel from the Saint Francis Altarpiece, San Francesco, Pescia, Italy, 1235. Tempera on wood, 5’ x 3’ x 6”.

Bonaventura Berlinghieri worked in the Italian-Byzantine style and created the Saint Francis AltarpieceThis altarpiece was created for the Church of San Francesco (Saint Francis) in Pescia in 1235.

  • Its is painted in tempera on wood panel and honors Saint Francis of Assisi. St. Francis wears a clerical robe, tied at the waist with a rope. This will become the clothing of Franciscan monks.

Saint displays the stigmata, marks resembling Christ’s wounds, on his hands and feet. These were seen as God’s blessing. Made some followers see Francis as a second Christ.

  • Notice the two angels at the top on either side. Their poses are frontal and they have no halos. They also aren’t modeled, which means they have no shading to make them look more three dimensional or realistic. This was characteristic of the Byzantine style. Use of gold leaf (gold beaten into tissue-paper-thin sheets, then applied to surfaces) make the images appear even more flat.

At the top left Francis has the stigmata. Below, the saint preaches to the birds. Four of the scenes show miraculous healings, connecting him to Christ. This was p[inted nine years after Francis’s death and is the earliest known signed and dated representation of the saint.

The panel focuses on the aspects of the saint’s life that the Franciscans wanted to promote. The Franciscan order were committed to teaching and helping those who were suffering.

  • Saint Francis believed he could get closer to God by rejecting worldly goods. He stripped himself nude in a public square and led a strict life of fasting, prayer, and meditation.

Nicola and Giovani Pisano

NICOLA PISANO, pulpit of the baptistery, Pisa, Italy, 1259–1260. Marble, 15’ high.

NICOLA PISANO, pulpit of the baptistery, Pisa, Italy, 1259–1260. Marble, 15’ high.

Sculptor Nicola d’Apulia was known as Nicola Pisano after his adopted city. He received his early training in southern Italy. In 1250, he traveled north and settled in Pisa – a magnet for artists.

Pisano specialized in carving marble reliefs and decorations for large pulpitsHe made the first in 1260 for Pisa’s baptistery.

The pulpit has trefoil arches and lions supporting some of the columnsLarge, bushy capitals are a Gothic variation of the Corinthian capitalArches are round, as in Roman architecture, rather than pointed as in Gothic buildings. Each of the relief panels looks like the front of a Roman sarcophagus.

1903

NICOLA PISANO, Annunciation, Nativity, and Adoration of the Shepherds, relief panel on the baptistery pulpit, Pisa, Italy, 1259–1260. Marble, 2’ 10” x 3’ 9”.

Large scale figures are packed tight together. One panel depicts scenes from the Infancy cycle of Christ.

  • Annunciation (top left)
  • Nativity (center and lower half)
  • Adoration of the Shepherds (top right).
  • Mary appears twice
  • her size varies.

The focus is on the Virgin Mary and the Nativity. Her posture is reminiscent of Etruscan (Early Italian) and Roman sarcophagi. The faces, beards, and hair styles look like classical sculpture. Some of the same models were used over and over in various sarcophagi.

1904

GIOVANNI PISANO, Annunciation, Nativity, and Adoration of the Shepherds, relief panel on the pulpit of Sant’Andrea, Pistoia, Italy, 1297–1301. Marble 2’ 10” x 3’ 4”.

Nicola Pisano’s son, Giovanni Pisano, was another sought-after sculptor for church pulpits. The image above is Giovanni’s pulpit located in Sant’Andrea at Pistoia. His pulpit has a panel with the Nativity and related scenee and is very different from his father’s thick carving. His father’s sculpture is an almost calm presentation of the religious story while Giovanni arranged his figures loosely and dynamically. They twist and bend in excited animation and the spaces between them suggest motion.

Annunciation (top left)

  • Mary pulls back from the angel, a little scared but also humbled.
  • All of the figures appear nervous or agitated, almost like they are overcome with the spirit
  • Only the shepherds and the sheep (right) appear still.

Lots of emotion, not found in his father’s sculpture.

  • The father worked in the classical style.
  • The son had more of a French Gothic style.

Both styles were in used at the same time in Italy.

Italy Around 1400

M1901

In the 14th century Italy was made of numerous independent city-statesEach corresponded to a geographic region centered on a major city. Most of the city-states, such as Venice, Florence, Lucca, and Siena, were republicsThese republics were constitutional oligarchies that were governed by executive bodies, advisory councils, and special commissions.

Other powerful states included the Papal States, the Kingdom of Naples, and the Duchies of Milan, Modena, Ferrara, and Savoy. These states were politically distinct from the republics but all states were wealthy. 

Sources of wealth varied from state to state. Italy had port cities. Other cities depended on banking. Some on the making of weapons or textiles.

Black Death (bubonic plague) in the late 1340s threatened this wealth. The Black Death started in China but soon moved to Europe where everyone suffered. It is considered the most devastating natural disaster in European history. It killed between 25 and 50 percent of Europe’s population in about five years.

Italy was hit the hardest because it was one of the largest cities where people lived closed together. The death toll there was as high as 50 or 60 percent.

The Black Death also had a significant effect on art.

  • More religious devotional images were commissioned.
  • The focus on sickness and death led to new hospitals.
  • There was an increase in vernacular literature. This access to new works of literature affected Italy’s intellectual and cultural life.

Although literature was being written in the language of the people, Latin remained the official language of church and state documents.

  • This new vernacular literature made philosophical and intellectual ideas more available to the public. Some of the these writers were Dante Alighieri (poet), Francesco Petrarch (scholar) and Giovanni Boccaccio.

The Great Schism

In 1305 the College of Cardinals (group of all cardinals) elected a French pope, Clement V, who moved to Avignon. The French popes ended up staying in Avignon. These popes said they were going to return to Rome but never did. This move did not please the Italians who saw Rome as the only place for the church.

To try to make everyone happy, the French and Italians elected two popes in 1378

  • Clement VII, in Avignon (who does not appear in the Catholic Church’s official list of popes – because he’s French)
  • Urban VI, in Rome.

The election of these two popes began what became known as the Great Schism. The Great Schism last for 40 years and ended when Roman Emperor Sigismund elected a new Roman pope, Martin V, who was acceptable to all.

Monks

Because there was no pope in Italy for most of the 14th century, there was increase in monastic ordersMonastic orders were groups of monks who separated themselves from the Catholic church.

  • The largest and most influential monastic orders were the mendicants (begging friars). They renounced all worldly goods and committed themselves to spreading God’s word, performing good deeds, and ministering to the sick and dying.
  • These orders were known as the Franciscans, founded by Francis of Assisi and the Dominicans, founded by the Spanish Dominic de Guzman. The Dominicans helped to create educational institutions.
  • Both groups were popular with Italians

There was some rivalry between the two. They built their churches on opposite sides of Florence.

  • Santa Croce, the Franciscan church, on the eastern side.
  • Santa Maria Novella, Dominicans’ church, on the western.

In addition to these Monastic Orders there were also groups called ConfraternitiesThese were groups of non-ordained men who dedicated themselves to strict religious rules. They became popular during the 14th and 15th centuries. Like the Monastic Orders, they also helped the sick, buried the dead, sung hymns, and other good deeds.

Cimabue

1907

CIMABUE – Madonna Enthroned with Angels and Prophets

One of the first artists to start breaking away from the Italian Byzantine style. His real name is Cenni di Pepo but he was better known as Cimabue. Cimabue wanted to create a new naturalism.

The painting above was created for Santa Trinità (Holy Trinity) church in Florence, Italy. He was influenced by old Byzantine models evidenced by the gold leaf used for the folds in Mary’s robe.  This detail makes it appear more 3 dimensional that a typical Byzantine work. The throne that Mary sits on is quite large for the space. The figure’s overlapping bodies reinforce this sense of depth.

Giotto di Bondone

1908

GIOTTO DI BONDONE, Madonna Enthroned, from the Church of Ognissanti, Florence, Italy, ca. 1310. Tempera and gold leaf on wood, 10’ 8” x 6’ 8”. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

Giotto di Bondone of Florence, Italy was more radical than Cimabue. He is regarded as the first Renaissance painter who pursued naturalism (realism). One influence may have been the work of his teacher, Cimabue. Vasari (first art historian) said that Giotto’s work was better then his teacher

His paintings start to displace the Byzantine style. For the next 700 years, painting is a major style of art. Naturalism is what is pursued. Giotto’s painting style was based on observation. Stressed the ability to see things as a way to gain knowledge of the world. Empirical science was something new and stressed that the visual world must be observed before it can be analyzed and understood.

Giotto painting is the same subject as Cimabue’s.

  • Has a traditional gold background
  • Cimabue’s Mary was slender – Giotto’s is much larger
  • Giotto shows Mary’s breasts pressing through the fabric of her white shirt. This was considered scandalous at the time.
  • No gold highlights on her robe – Wanted the figure to have substance
  • Appears like a sculpture….in a painting

This painting marks the end of medieval painting in Italy and the beginning of a new naturalistic approach to art.

Renaissance Humanism

Renaissance Humanism (14th through 16th centuries)

Development of a common language was a sign that things were about to change. This change would later be known as the RenaissanceReligion dominated the lives of Europeans but people slowly became more concerned with the natural world, the individual, and humanity. 

Renaissance in French and English refers to a “rebirth” of art and culture. There was a renewed interest in classical cultures. Before the Renaissance and after a period known as antiquity there was a period known as the “Middle Ages” or “Dark Ages”.  The “Dark Ages” were not a period of no productivity or creativity as most people think. The transition into the Renaissance did not happen overnight

Fundamental to the Italian Renaissance was humanismThe concept emerged during the 14th century. Humanism was a code of civil conduct, a theory of education, and an educational idea. It was concerned with human values and interests and was not opposed to religious ideas. It did challenge them though.

Roman virtues included:

  • Service to the state.
  • Participation in government.
  • Defense of state institutions (especially justice).
  • Duty to state was more important than personal problems

During the Renaissance there was a new interest in and knowledge of Greek literature and philosophy. A large portion of previously unknown Greek and Roman literature and philosophy had been discovered. It had been lost or gone unnoticed in the Middle Ages and provided humanists with a model for living in this world.

Humanists wanted no material reward for services. Their sole reward for civic virtue was fame while the reward for religious leaders was sainthood.

Fresco

Fresco painting has a long history. Minoans (from the island of Crete, south of Greece) used it as early as 1650 BCE.

Fresco (Italian for “fresh”) is a mural-painting technique where the artist applies permanent pigments, diluted in water, on fresh lime plaster. The surface of the wall absorbs the pigments as the plaster dries. It is one of the most permanent painting techniques.

There are two types of fresco painting

  • buon fresco (“true” fresco) technique where the pigment is mixed with wet plaster
  • fresco secco (dry fresco) where the pigment is applied on dried plaster. The finished product looks the same as buon fresco but the plaster wall does not absorb the pigments, they sit on the surface. Fresco secco does not last as long as buon.

Buon fresco is time consuming and requires several layers of plaster.

Giotto's Arena Chapel

1901

Giotto di Bondone, Arena Chapel (Cappella Scrovegni; interior looking west), Padua, Italy, 1305–1306.

Giotto was regarded as the first Renaissance painter. The frescoes in the Arena Chapel are his best work.

Arena Chapel, Padua

Enrico Scrovegni was a wealthy Paduan banker who built the chapel next to his home. The Arena Chapel takes its name from an ancient Roman amphitheater nearby. Scrovegni built the chapel for his private use for his family. Wanted to atone for his sins after a hard day of work as a loan officer. Loaning money at high interest rates was considered sinful.

Trying to make a body look 3 dimensional on a flat surface is a tough job. Giotto had to do this on a curved surface. Giotto may have been the architect because the paintings fit the building so perfectly.

What was created was a rectangular barrel-vaulted hall with six narrow windows in its south wall. The entire north wall is unbroken and well-lit. Lots of flat, well lit surface for painting. This is the most impressive and complete Christian paintings cycles ever produced.

Ceiling is blue with golden stars symbolic of Heaven. Images of Christ, Mary, and various prophets also appear on the vault. Giotto painted the same blue in the backgrounds of the narrative panels on the walls below. Decorative borders frame the individual panels.

Gardner Ch. 19 Italy 1200-1400.027-001

There are 38 framed pictures arranged on three levels. Giotto painted the most poignant scenes from the lives of Mary and her parents, Joachim and Anna (top level), life and mission of Christ (middle level) and the Passion, Crucifixion, and Resurrection (bottom level). Background on all three levels are neutral colors

Imitation marble veneer is reminiscent of ancient Roman decoration and resembles carved sculpture. 

The Last Judgment, covers most of the wall above the chapel’s entrance.

Giotto's Lamentation

1909

GIOTTO DI BONDONE, Lamentation, Arena Chapel, (Cappella Scrovegni), Padua, Italy, ca. 1305. Fresco, 6’ 6 3/4” x 6’ 3/4”.

Giotto’s Lamentation uses foreshortened angels, seen head-on with their bodies receding into the background. They are flying about while also grieving. The group in front mourns over the dead body of Christ just before his entombment.

  • Mary cradles her son’s body.
  • Mary Magdalene looks at the wounds in Christ’s feet
  • Saint John the Evangelist throws his arms back dramatically.

The figures are painted on a shallow stage. The ledge creates a strong horizontal while the diagonal pulls our eye around the painting. Figures show intense emotion. First time a painting had emotional intensity and compositional complexity. 

Notice how the strong diagonal of the rocky ledge leads your eyes to the single dead tree (the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which died when Adam sinned). The ledge also points us to the head of Christ.

  • The bulk of the man on the far left stops our eye from going off the painting..
  • Some of the figures have their back to us, making us part of the scene.
  • Giotto used light and shade to make the figures appear 3 dimensional

Giotto’s paintings influenced Renaissance painters to come.

Duccio's Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints

1910

DUCCIO DI BUONINSEGNA, Virgin and Child Enthroned with Saints, principal panel of the Maestà altarpiece, from the Siena Cathedral, Siena, Italy, 1308–1311. Tempera and gold leaf on wood, 7’ x 13’ (center panel). Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena.

Maestà (Virgin Enthroned in Majesty) replaced a much smaller painting located on the high altar of Siena Cathedral.

People of Sienna believed Mary had brought them victory over the Florentines in 1260. She was the focus of their religious life. Duccio and his assistants began work on the commission in 1308. They completed it 3 years later in 1311.

The altarpiece consisted of a seven-foot-high central panel with seven pinnacles above and a predella, or raised shelf, of panels at the base. It is 13 feet high altogether. It is painted in tempera front and back. Unfortunately it was dismantled over time and sold as single paintings.

The main panel of the front side represents the Virgin enthroned as Queen of Heaven surrounded by angels and saints. The structure and symmetry are from Byzantine although the figures are not straight on and even turn and talk to one another. The 4 saints in the foreground have individualized faces and are not stiff. Drapery and patterns are not as stiff as Byzantine. The drapery on the females at the ends is very loose and free flowing.

Duccio respected the idea that, as an altarpiece, the Maestà (enthroned Mary holding Christ) would be the focus of worship. Should be an object holy in itself and painted beautifully. It should not be too radical.

In the 13th and 14th centuries, Italy was the distribution center for the silk trade from China and the Middle East. Silk was processed in city-states such as Lucca and Florence and then exported throughout Europe. People throughout Europe wanted fabrics from China, Persia, Byzantium, and Islamic countries. In the Maestà panel, Duccio created the effect of beautiful textiles. The Halos and gold leaf complemented the texture of the fabrics

Duccio's Betrayal of Jesus

1910A

DUCCIO DI BUONINSEGNA, Life of Jesus, 14 panels from the back of the Maestà altarpiece, from Siena Cathedral, Siena, Italy, 1308–1311. Tempera and gold leaf on wood, 7’ X 13’. Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena.

1911

DUCCIO DI BUONINSEGNA, Betrayal of Jesus, detail from the back of the Maestà altarpiece, from Siena Cathedral, Siena, Italy, 1309–1311. Tempera  and gold leaf on wood, detail 1’ 10 1/2” x 3’ 4”. Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Siena.

With the Betrayal of Jesus, Duccio experimented more on the back and side pieces of the altarpiece. Both sides of the altarpiece were always on view on the high altar that stood at the center of the sanctuary. In the panels on the back, he illustrated the life of Christ – his ministry, his Passion, and his Resurrection and appearances to the disciples.

Duccio painted several episodes of the event

  • the betrayal of Jesus by Judas’s false kiss
  • disciples fleeing in terror
  • Peter cutting off the ear of the priest’s servant.

The background, with its golden sky and rock formations, remains traditional but the style of the figures changed radically. The bodies are not the flat frontal shapes like Byzantine art. They have mass and are painted with light and dark. Their clothing hangs naturally. The figures are reacting to the event and show a variety of emotions.

International Style

1913

SIMONE MARTINI AND LIPPO MEMMI(?), Annunciation, altarpiece, from Siena Cathedral, Siena, Italy, 1333 (frame reconstructed in the19th century). Tempera and gold leaf on wood, center panel 10’ 1” x 8’ 8 3/4”. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

Simone Martini was a student of Duccio and may have assisted him in painting the Maestà. He worked for the French kings in Naples and Sicily and produced paintings for the papal court at Avignon. There he came in contact with many Northern European painters which affected his painting style.

Martini began using patterns of the French Gothic style which was instrumental in creating the International StyleThis new style existed in Europe during the late 14th and early 15th centuries. It used rich colors, lavish costumes, intricate patterns, weightless figures and themes involving splendid parades.

Martini’s Annunciation altarpiece uses elegant shapes and beautiful color, weightless figures in a spaceless setting.

The angel Gabriel has just landed; his wings are still beating. His gold gown is supposed to be symbolic of heaven. The Virgin puts down her book of devotions. She wears deep blue, gold-hemmed robe, the colors of the Queen of Heaven. Between the two figures is a vase of white lilies which are symbolic of the Virgin’s purity.

Notice the tracery (the carved portion at the top) of the carved French Gothic–inspired frame.

Simone Martini and his student and assistant, Lippo Memmi, signed the altarpiece and dated it (1333). Art historians now agree he painted the two outside saints. Look different than the two figures in the center

Artists' Guilds

The political Republics of Siena and Florence were the most powerful. Both Siena and Florence were urban centers of bankers and merchants that had widespread international contacts. They also had lots of money for commissioning artworks.

Guilds were associations of master craftspeople, apprentices, and tradespeople. They protected members’ financial interests against things like taxation and gave them the means to regulate their internal operations work quality and membership training). They are very similar to an “artists’ union” or a union you may have at a large corporation. They fight for the rights of the workers.

The general public tends to see art as the creative expression of an individual artist but artists did not always enjoy this degree of freedom. Artists rarely made major artworks without a patron’s commission. A patron could be a civic group, religious group, private individual, or even the artists’ guild itself.

Guilds, although primarily economic commercial organizations, contributed to their city’s religious and artistic life by subsidizing the building and decoration of numerous churches and hospitals. For example, the Arte della Lana (wool manufacturers’ guild) oversaw the start of Florence Cathedral in 1296, and the Arte di Calimala (wool merchants’ guild) supervised the completion of its dome. Monastic orders, confraternities, and the popes were also major art patrons. In addition, wealthy families and individuals commissioned artworks for a variety of reasons.

Besides the aesthetic pleasure these patrons derived from art, the images often served as testaments to the patron’s wealth, status, power, and knowledge.

Because artworks during this period were the product of what was, in effect, a service contract, a patron’s needs or wishes played a crucial role in the final form of any painting, sculpture, or building. Some contracts between patrons and artists are preserved in European municipal and church archives. The patrons normally asked artists to submit drawings or models for approval, and they expected the artists they hired to adhere to the approved designs fairly closely.

These contracts usually stipulated certain conditions, such as the insistence on the artist’s own hand in the production of the work, the quality of pigment and amount of gold or other precious items to be used, completion date, payment terms, and penalties for failure to meet the contract’s terms.

In all cases, the artists worked for their patrons and could count on being compensated for their talents and efforts only if the work they delivered met the standards of those who ordered it.

Art School

Between the 14th and 16th centuries in Italy, training to become a professional artist and earning membership in the appropriate guild was a long and difficult process. 

Italians looked at art as a trade and expected artists to be trained. Artists started their training anywhere from 7 to 15 years old. Fathers would negotiate arrangements with specific master artists. Each youth lived with a master for a specified number of years, usually 5 or 6. During that time, they served as apprentices to the masters in the workshop, learning the trade. It was considered inappropriate for young girls to live in a master’s household.

If you were apprenticed to a painter, you learned to grind pigments, draw, prepare wood panels for painting, gild, and lay plaster for fresco. Sculptors learned to manipulate use different materials (for example, wood, stone, terracotta (baked clay), wax, bronze, or stucco). Most workshops only specialized in 1 or 2 materials. For stone carving, apprentices learned their craft by blocking out the master’s designs for statues.

Guilds supervised this training. They wanted to ensure their professional reputations by admitting only the most talented members. Also wanted to control the number of artists (to limit competition). As their skills developed, apprentices started doing harder work.

After their apprenticeship, artists entered the appropriate guilds. Painters, who ground pigments, joined the guild of apothecaries. Sculptors were members of the guild of stoneworkers. Goldsmiths entered the silk guild, because gold was stretched into threads wound around silk for weaving. Being in a guild meant the artist was competent.

Once “certified,” artists often affiliated themselves with established workshops, as assistants to master artists. New artists could not expect to receive many commissions, and the cost of establishing their own workshops was high. This arrangement was not permanent. Workshops could be organized around individual masters (with no set studio locations) or organized for a specific project. Assistants were responsible for gilding frames and backgrounds, completing decorative work, and, sometimes, painting architectural settings. Figures, especially those central to the painting, as the most important and difficult parts of a painting; the Master saved these for himself. Sometimes assistants painted secondary or marginal figures but only under the master’s close supervision. The ultimate goal was for artists to become masters. The individual artist became more and more important.

Palazzo Pubblico

1915

Aerial view of the Campo with the Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Italy, 1288–1309.

Palazzo Pubblico

Not all Sienese painting was religious. One of the most important fresco cycles was a public commission for Siena’s Palazzo Pubblico (“public palace” or city hall). Siena was a commercial and political rival of Florence.

The meeting hall in the main square was almost as great an object of a city’s pride as the cathedral. The Palazzo Pubblico has a slightly concave facade and gigantic tower visible from miles around. The tower served as lookout over the city and the countryside around it and as a bell tower (campanile).

The city had to defend itself against other cities and against kings and emperors. Had to be secure against internal struggles as well. Fights between rich and powerful families. People often rose up against the government. The heavy walls were also there to defend the politicians from their own people. The tower was out of reach of most missiles and includes holes in their floors to allow the dumping of stones or hot liquids on enemies. 

Ambrogio Lorenzetti's Peaceful City

1916

Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Peaceful City, detail from Effects of Good Government in the City and in the Country, Sala della Pace, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Italy, 1338–1339. Fresco.

Ambrogio Lorenzetti was Pietro Lorenzetti’s brother and elaborated on what had been done in the past with perspective. Ambrogio made three frescoes for the walls of the Sala della Pace (Hall of Peace) in the Palazzo Pubblico:

  • Allegory of Good Government, Bad Government and the Effects of Bad Government in the City
  • Effects of Good Government in the City and in the Country. 
  • Peaceful Country

During this time there were violent party struggles and the government was constantly overthrown and then reinstated. The leaders who commissioned the paintings were also the ones trying to reform the city

Effects of Good Government in the City and in the Country (not shown) shows the urban and rural effects of good government.

Peaceful City is a panoramic view of Siena with palaces, markets, towers, churches, streets, and walls. Looks similar to ancient Roman murals. People walk around quietly, guild members are making and selling their work and well dressed women are holding hands and dancing in a circle. Dancers were regulars at springtime parties and are a metaphor for a peaceful city.

1916A

AMBROGIO LORENZETTI, Allegory of Good Government, north (left) and east (right) walls of the Sala della Pace, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Italy, 1338–1339. Fresco, north wall 25’ 3” wide, east wall 46’ wide.

1917

Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Peaceful Country, detail from Effects of Good Government in the City and in the Country, Sala della Pace, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Italy, 1338–1339. Fresco.

In a Peaceful Country a group passes through the city gate going into the countryside. The painting presents a bird’s-eye view of the Italian countryside with homes, castles, farmlands, and workers.

Security is above the landscape with a scroll that promises safety to all who live under the rule of law. This is one of the first landscapes in Western art since the Middle Ages. Earlier landscapes were pretty generic. This landscape is particular.

The Black Death may have killed of both Lorenzettis.

  • They disappear from historical records in 1348, the year that brought the disease to Europe.

The Republic of Florence

Florence was a dominant city-state during the 14th century. Giovanni Villani (one of the first historians) described Florence as “the daughter and the creature of Rome”. Florentines were proud of their economic and cultural superiority. They controlled the textile industry in Italy and the gold florin was the standard money everywhere in Europe.

1918

ARNOLFO DI CAMBIO and others, Florence Cathedral (aerial view looking northeast), Florence, Italy, begun 1296.

Florence Cathedral was designed by Arnolfo di Cambio who started work on the cathedral in 1296. It was intended as the “most beautiful and honorable church in Tuscany”. Planned for the church to hold the city’s entire population but actually holds only about 30,000. Florence’s population at the time was slightly less than 100,000. The architect Alberti said that it seemed to cover “all of Tuscany with its shade.”

The outside is covered with geometric marble designs matching the cathedral’s wall paneling to that of the 11th-century Romanesque baptistery of San Giovanni.

Florence Cathedral is not tall like the gothic churces being built at the time. It hugs the ground and all emphasis is on the horizontal elements of the design.

Giotto di Bondone designed the cathedral’s campanile (bell tower) in 1334. It stands apart from the church and is divided into square sections. The tower could exist on its own. Artists at this time wanted to use logical building methods and started using simpler blocks that they could then build upon.

1919

Arnolfo di Cambioand others, interior of Florence Cathedral (looking east), Florence, Italy, begun 1296.

Nave (long hallway) seems almost like an afterthought and was the first section to be built. Midway through the 14th century, the Florentines redesigned the crossing to create more space. The area beneath the dome is the focal point. The emphasis is on space and horizontal elements. The capitals on the piers (columns) make them look short but substantial

The facade (front) of Florence Cathedral was not completed until the 19th century. Much different than its original design. The facade was usually the last part to be considered because they were seen as just decorative

Pisa, Venice and Milan

Italy’s port cities – Genoa, Pisa, and Venice – controlled the busy sea trade and connected the West with Islam, with Byzantium and Russia, and China. Pisa established itself as a major shipping power and dominant Italian city-state. It still suffered from the black death in the 1340’s

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FRANCESCO TRAINI or BUONAMICO BUFFALMACCO, two details of Triumph of Death, 1330s. Full fresco, 18’ 6” x 49’ 2”. Camposanto, Pisa.

Triumph of Death is a huge 18 by 49 feet. Historians are not sure who the painter is but the painting captures the horrors of death. It forces viewers to confront their mortality.

There are subtle clues to those who appear unprepared for death and unlikely to achieve salvation as wealthy and living in luxury. The painting was a warning against greed and lust, the young and wealthy.

1920a

In the right foreground, young aristocrats see three bodies in coffins in different stages of decomposition. Ladies turn away with disgust, a man holds his nose and the animals, horses and dogs, sniff the bodies

At the far right a hermit named Saint Macarius unrolls a scroll. It describes the foolishness of pleasure and the inevitability of death.

1920b

On the far left ladies and gentlemen ignore reality as they sit in an orange grove listening to music. All around them angels and demons struggle for the souls of the corpses in the foreground.

Milan Cathedral

1922

Milan Cathedral, Milan, Italy, begun 1386.

Northern European influences were strong in Lombardy (central Northern Italy). The Milan Cathedral was built in 1386. The town invited experts from France, Germany, and England, as well as from Italy. These architects argued amongst themselves and with the city council. No single architect played a dominant role which created what could be called “architecture by committee”.

The building’s proportions, particularly the nave’s, became Italian (wide in relation to height). Surface decorations and details are Gothic. The pinnacles and the tracery on the facade are FrenchBy the time it was finished, Gothic was out of style. The front is a mix of Gothic and Renaissance.