Art history overview and key movements

Art

Cimabue's late Byzantine painting Madonna and Child Enthroned is on the surface and in many respects similar to Giotto's early Renaissance painting Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints. In fact, only a generation or two separated these two painters. Cimabue painted his Maesta from 1280 and finished in 1285, whereas Giotto worked between 1305 and 1310 on the Ognissanti Madonna. Within this 40-year time span, great changes were taking place in Italian art as well as history and culture in general. These changes become evident when analyzing the differences between Cimabue's and Giotto's differing renditions of the Madonna enthroned. In particular, Giotto's painting whispers of the emerging naturalism and realism that would become hallmarks of the Renaissance.

The Byzantine style can be described fairly as being two-dimensional in scope, as the human figures are rendered flatly on the canvas. Moreover, one of the distinguishing features of Byzantine art is the liberal use of gold even in the tempera paintings like that of Cimabue. In Cimabue's Madonna and Child Enthroned, gold is the predominant hue, with deep reds and blues comprising the remainder of the tempera paint palette. Another defining feature of Byzantine art, besides the almost exclusively Christian subject matter, is the heavy reliance on circular halos surrounding the rounded heads of all the figures depicted in the composition.

Renaissance art, on the contrary, welcomes three-dimensionality and an almost sculptural language to convey a more realistic and naturalistic rendition of human forms. Specific techniques used to develop naturalism in painting include chiaroscuro, which is the deft use of light and shadow on the canvas. Although Giotto had yet to master chiaroscuro in Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints, the painting appears to have more depth than Cimabue's does. The greater depth is evident in the human figures of Madonna, the Christ child, and the angels, but also in the architectural elements of the throne.

In spite of their core differences, these two paintings share many elements in common in addition to the identical subject matter. Both Cimabue's and Giotto's paintings are rendered on a canvas shaped like a pentagon. Gold is the common thread in each artist's palette. Halos are used to surround the key figures.

However, a quick glance at the primary subject reveals the emergence of the Renaissance in Giotto's painting. Giotto's Madonna is the focal point; whereas for Cimabue, it is the Christ child. Several formal elements show how and why this is true. In Cimabue's painting, the Madonna's hand is prominently placed so that the fingers form a distinct cross, providing the horizontal plane of the painting. Cimabue's Madonna points to the child, directing the viewer's eye to the baby. Mary shows the viewer that Christ is the central element, even though the child sits limply in his mother's arms.

In Giotto's painting, the horizontal Christ child plays a more active role. He holds up his tiny hand to point to his mother's breast, which creates an invisible line with the ridges or knobs on the throne. Thus in Giotto's painting, a cross composition is formed not by Madonna's hand as it is in Cimabue's composition, but by Christ's fingers and the lines of the throne. Moreover, in Giotto's painting, the Madonna's right hand holds the baby Jesus rather than pointing at him, as does Cimabue's Madonna. The look on the Madonna's face is completely different between these two paintings, too. In Cimabue's painting, the Madonna has a passive, restive look, whereas in Giotto's painting, the Madonna has a strong, wise, and confident visage. Cimabue's Madonna is more realistic and naturalistic than previous Byzantine paintings, but still shares more in common with Byzantine art than with Renaissance art. Giotto, on the other hand, represents a clearer bridge between the two styles.

Another major difference between Cimabue's Madonna and Child Enthroned and Giotto's Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints is evident in the structure and composition of the throne itself. Cimabue shows Mary Madonna as sitting atop four men, who do not appear in Giotto's version. In Giotto's version, the throne is covered, but it is not in Cimabue's. Giotto depicts two angels kneeling by Mary's feet; those two angels simply hold the legs of Mary's throne in Cimabue's painting but the angels are not kneeling. Furthermore, Giotto expands on his predecessor's color palette, introducing brighter shades of red, orange, and green, as well as a more naturalistic skin tone. The figures and their draperies become three-dimensional with the skillful use of shadowing. Although the fingers on hands are elongated, they are not nearly as much so as Cimabue's.