1. Europe in the
14th Century
14
Centu
ry Art
in
Europ
e call
We can
this
“late Gothic”

2. •
•
•
•
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

3. 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.

4. 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!

5. 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

6. • 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

7. We’re going to start
in ITALY

8. 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

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

10. The façade
was finished
in the 19th
century

11. SMO CAM
This is the view
from the top of
Giotto’s campanile

12. Florence Cathedral, interior (SMO CAM)

13. • Wide open!
• Broad, heavy
piers allow side
aisle spaces to
flow into nave
• Widely spaced
arches
• Lighter looking
than French
Gothic

14. • Giotto’s
campanile
• Divided into
horizontal
sections
• Floors stacked
one above the
other
•Marble of various colors
•Patterns of rectangular blocks cover surface

15. • Altar is located
under the dome –
symbolic “Dome of
Heaven” – separate
area from the naveseparation 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)

16. Brunelleschi’s dome

17. Beneath the dome

19. Life of John the
Baptist
by Andrea Pisano
1330-1336
bronze
(Frame is from
Ghiberti workshop,
mid-15th century)

20. •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

21. And since I know you’re probably wondering …
The eight virtues are:
hope
faith
charity
humility
fortitude
temperance
justice
prudence

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

23. • 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

24. • 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

25. 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.

26. PALAZZO PUBBLICO, 1288-1309, Siena, Italy

28. •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

29. FLORENCE
SIENA

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

31. -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

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

34. WHEN you go
to Siena
Cathedral,
check out
their cool
illuminated
manuscript
library!

35. 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

36. 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

37. •“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

38. 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

39. •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

40. •Some faces turn
away – not frontal
•Mary is shown as
the mother of Christ,
but also as a human
being

42. Scrovegni
(Arena) Chapel
by: Giotto di
Bondone
1305-06
(14th cen.)
Frescoes,
Padua, Italy

43. •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

44. •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

45. •This room shows
Giotto’s genius for
displaying a complex
narrative in an easy-tounderstand 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

46. •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)

47. MARRIAGE AT CANA, RAISING OF
LAZARUS, LAMENTATION, AND
RESURRECTION (in Arena chapel)

48. marriage
amentation
Raising of Lazarus
Resurrection

49. MEETING AT THE GOLDEN GATE
by; Giotto de Bondone, 1304-06 (14th cen). Padua,
Italy (in the Arena Chapel)

50. It’s in here

51. •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

52. •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
•Figures look solid (more like Roman statues than the mosaics
we saw back in Byzantine
•Figures bodies have a stout “sandbag-like” quality

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

54. Lamentation, Artist: Giotto (in Arena Chapel)
fresco, 1305-1306 (14th cen.), Padua, Italy

56. •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

57. •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

58. •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

59. •Wide range of
emotion- sadness,
quiet resignation,
outbursts, despair
•Angels grieving
•Tree is bare
•Figures seen from
the back – help to
•Clear foreground, middle
isolate the main
ground, and background
action

60. 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

61. •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

62. Artist: Duccio, MAESTA, main panel
1308-1311 (14th cen.), Tempera on panel

63. It’s in Siena
Cathedral

64. •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

65. •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 

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

67. •Floor looks like grainy marblerecedes in space (perspective)
•Elegant figures, drapery,
ornamentation

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

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

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

71. •Gestures are courtly and
aristocratic
•International Gothic style

73. Artist: Pietro
Lorenzetti
BIRTH OF THE
VIRGIN
1342 (14th cen.)
tempera on
panel
In Siena
Cathedral

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

75. •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?

76. •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

77. •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)

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

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

80. Artist: Ambrogio Lorenzetti, GOOD
GOVERNMENT IN THE CITY AND THE
COUNTRY, 1338-1340 (14th cen.), fresco, Public
Palace, Siena

81. •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!

82. •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

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

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

85. •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

86. •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

87. 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

88. PISA PULPIT
by Giovanni Pisano
1302-1310
(14th cen.)
marble,
in Pisa Cathedral

89. •Scenes separated
•Figures move
dynamically, not as
static as Nicola
Pisano’s
•Deep shadows –
deep cuts
•Inspired by French
Gothic more than
classical Roman

90. •This is in here
(cathedral)

91. 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!

92. It’s in there
(baptistery)

93. •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…

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

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

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

97. Let’s hop over to France for a minute…
VIRGIN AND CHILD, 1339 (14th cen.)
Silver gilt and enamel
-Originally in the Abbey Church of
Saint-Denis (now at Louvre in Paris)

98. •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

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

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

101. 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

102. 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

103. FIN