Giotto Essays (Examples)

These remarks could be applied equally to anything in Giotto's oeuvre. The total effect of Giotto's work is one of bold religious feeling. It inspires the viewer to accept the mythology and challenges him to understand his relationship to the God both preached by the Church and challenged by heretics. Giotto's works, like Pisano's or Duccio's, certainly inspire religious feelings and thoughts. They are dignified, spiritual, and affirmative. They put into realistic terms the very humanity of the saints, prophets, patriarchs, and the Christ by depicting each as a real human being in a realistic setting. They emphasize the reality of the Faith -- which was being challenged already by men like yclif, and which would undergo its most formidable test yet with the coming Protestant Reformation.

In conclusion, Giotto di Bondone depicted traditional religious subjects but drew the viewer into a more personal relationship with the ideas didactically expressed…

Giotto's Kiss Of Judas
Giotto's depiction of the Kiss of Judas, on the wall of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, was painted in the early years of the fourteenth century -- it is a religious illustration, meant to gloss the moment in Christ's Passion depicted in three of the four synoptic Gospels (Matthew 26:47-50; Mark 14:43-45; Luke 22:47-48), wherein Judas Iscariot identifies Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, so that he may be arrested. Judas has decided to signal Christ's identity by kissing him warmly, and the "Judas kiss" has thus become extended as a kind of metaphor for the treacherous hypocrisy of a betrayer or an informant. The eye-catching central portion of the painting here depicts Judas, with his left arm extended and the scalloped folds of his bright orange cloak hanging down like a theatrical curtain: Judas' arm more or less eclipses most of Christ's body, so we…

Giotto and Duccio
The Arena Chapel (Scrovegni) of Giotto (1303) and Duccio's Maesta (1308) are both masterpieces of medieval European art. The Arena chapel contains the fresco cycle and is indicative of the movement towards a more humanistic view of religiosity, while the maestro is a large altarpiece that includes multiple images. Both have a similar subject but were constructed with divergent intentions and distinctive artistic styles.

Giotto di Bondone was a late Middle Age painter and architect and contemporary of the famous writer Dante (The Divine Comedy). Historians comment on his importance as a leader in style and subject matter for generations of artists after him. From an art history perspective, he is important because he broke with the Byzantine style that was so prevalent in his time. In fact, may consider him to be a clear forerunning of the Italian enaissance style of painting, with less stylized figures,…

This, however, is not enough to claim that Cimabue's work is as three-dimensional as Giotto's. Giotto, for example, gives his characters more depth and better realism.
Giotto's Ognissanti Madonna is a tempera on wood, 325 x 204 cm. In size, which makes it slightly smaller than Cimabue's tempera on panel used on the "high altar of Santa Trinita church in Florence" (Kren, Marx "The Madonna in Majesty"), signifying that its primary purpose was devotional, abstract, and didactic. Giotto's Madonna is certainly somewhat less traditionally didactic than Cimabue's. Cimabue, after all, gives a history lesson in his icon, incorporating Old Testament figures into the story of the New Testament Christ, illustrating how the ancient prophets and patriarch pre-figured and served as the foundation for the Christ. Giotto's work, however, is more representational: It strives not to teach so much as to make the subjects come to life in a real way.…

Nicola Pisano also depicts Christ's nativity on the Baptistry pulpit in Pisa. Unlike Giotto's nativity scene, Pisano's is a marble sculpture, and the different medium lends a different feel to the composition. In Pisano's nativity, the Virgin mother appears old, austere, and detached. She looks away from her infant child in a pose exactly opposite from that of Giotto's Mary who clings desperately to her fated infant. Pisano's Mary is also reclined but her looks off into the distance and not at Jesus. In fact, the baby Jesus floats in a space atop her outstretched body, wrapped tightly in what could just as easily be a sarcophagus as swaddling clothes. Mary's rigid restraint is coupled with the coffin-like imagery to portend Christ's death. The tension in Pisano's piece therefore accomplishes the same thematic goal as Giotto's desperate Mary who clings to her newborn. In contrast to Giotto's sparce composition, Pisano's…

They are draped in white with gold frills around their neck and arms. Their long wings are white, red, and yellow. Similar to the saints of Cimabue, we see that the angels have halos surrounding their heads.
The next area we will explore is the mid-ground of both paintings. In Madonna and Child Enthroned with Angels, the mid-ground consists of the Madonna and child. The child resembles a small man.

In Giotto's painting, the mid-ground consists of the Madonna on her throne. Unlike the castle-like structure in Cimabue's painting, this throne looks more like a church.

The last area we will look at is the background of the paintings. In Cimabue, we find a gold and black panel, whereas in Giotto, we are confronted by square like bricks of gold.

oth paintings, in their exquisite detail, are accomplished works of art, and thus deserve their status as masterpieces of the…

The figures in Bondone's fresco are not given nearly the same realistic detail as in Masaccio's, but what they lack in fine lines they make up for in emotional presence, because the skewed perspective allows the viewer to see a number of profiles, each expressing worry and affection for the injured (and possibly dead) Christ, who is being cradled on the ground. Above the outpouring of human emotion, angels express some of the lamentations of the title. The key formal aspect of the image which serves to draw the viewer into the scene of the narrative is the outstretched arms of a figure whose head is almost precisely in the center of the image. Although the figure's hands and arms appear somewhat oddly positioned upon close inspection, they serve first to draw the viewer's eye and then direct it towards Christ by forming a kind of horizontal barrier blocking the…

Picture Analysis The two works were likely completed after the Black Death, as they were both Florentine artists influenced by Giotto, who died at the end of the 14th century. The two works echo Giotto’s style in that there is a distinct rupture between the lifelike representations and the Byzantine style that had preceded them. Byzantine art tended to be more symbolic and less concerned with realism. Here, in each of these Florentine works, one sees a good degree of humanistic representation, which Giotto helped to usher in and that would come to roaring to the fore during the Renaissance.
Each of these works are religious in nature: the one is a triptych—three paneled painting featuring elements of the Gospel—such as the Incarnation and the death and crucifixion of Christ; the other one is Christ the King, flanked by…

Art
The shift from Byzantine or Medieval art to the early Renaissance is perfectly demonstrated by examining the change in depictions of the Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus, or Madonna and Child, over time. hat we see is a gradual tendency toward realistic depictions of human form, as a way of making religious art less remote and decorative, and more immediately related to actual human experience.

e can begin with the thirteenth-century Byzantine icon of the Madonna and Child on a Curved Throne. The painting is, in some sense, a highly stylized representation of a familiar image. The figures of mother and child do not really seem to exist in real space: for example, the gold leaf that is used for the flat backdrop behind the Madonna and Child is also used (in a decorative but not particularly realistic fashion) to highlight the folds of the Madonna's garments. here…

(Kleiner, 2010, pg. 360)
While Giotto's Christ Entering Jerusalem, is a depiction of Christ entering the Jerusalem. In this situation, he is trying to instill a sense of history and righteousness by showing Christ entering one of the holiest cities in Christianity. At the same time, he is embracing the same kind of basic painting style that was most commonly used during the time. This is important, because it shows how Giotto is taking more a historical approach about various events that are occurring. ("Christ Entering Jerusalem," 2009)

When you compare the two works side by side, it is clear that the 13th century ible is telling a story about how everyone should be acting within society, by highlighting how the King is viewed in same light as other religious symbols. While Christ Entering Jerusalem is showing a historical approach, based upon past events (giving everyone a sense of respect…

On the contrary, Giotto di Bondone had been a revolutionary, as he seemed to be determined to desert long-standing concepts in favor of newer, and more evolved ones.
Byzantine paintings have a general tendency to represent scenes from a two-dimensional perspective, and, most probably, in order to compensate with the lack of spatial depth, they use a greater number of details. In Giotto's Christ Entering Jerusalem, viewers feel as if they are part of the painting, with the painter's desire to involve three-dimensionality into his painting being obvious. Also, the painter simplified the painting by abandoning complexity and focusing on the essential. Duccio, on the other hand, has involved much more details in his portrayal of Christ Entering Jerusalem. Regardless of the attention paid by Duccio to details, his painting lacks realism, viewers being able to observe that the figures in it appear to be floating.

He is one of the few artists that were recognized for his work while he was still living.
One of Michelangelo's most exquisite pieces is Pieta. In this sculpture, we can see how Michelangelo was moving away from the traditional form of sculpting. Creighton Gilbert notes that how Mary and Jesus are depicted in the statue is not typical of Michelangelo's day. Mary is seated with the dead Jesus in her lap and this image "first emerged as an abbreviation of the scene of Christ mourned" (160). Harold Keller maintains that the piece is filled with contrasts, horizontally and vertically. e also have the opposites of the clothed and the naked. The position of Jesus' body is different from most pietas of the day in that it is horizontal, producing a "step-like composition based on the sharp right able between the corpse and the upper body of the Madonna towering…

Human Figure in Art
The Ognissanti Madonna by Giotto, from around 1310. Tempera on panel. Located at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

Giotto's work is relevant of the transition period between Cimabue's work in the 13th century, with profound yzantine influences, including in the figures, and the Early Renaissance of the 14th century in Italy. Stokstad (2004) notes the influences of Cimabue in this work by Giotto, including in terms of the symmetry of the painting. The Ogissanti Madonna is also relevant for that transition, particularly through the touches of realism that Giotto exercise here, including elements such as the marble throne on which the Madonna sits. The entire painting also surprises through its three-dimension depiction.

The human figure here is severe and serious, dominating the painting. It is very large in comparison to the other figures, perhaps to support its central role in the work (it is also in…

Art During Renaissance
The Evolution of Art During the Renaissance

The Renaissance period is defined as a cultural movement that spanned approximately from the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe (rotton 2006, p. 6). This period in the history of art included the painting, decorative arts and sculpture of the period and for many was considered a reawakening or rebirth of historic and ancient traditions based on the classical antiquity and the inclusion of more recent developments by applications of contemporary scientific knowledge.

The Renaissance was seen as a bridge between the Middle Ages and the modern era. The period also marked a cognitive shift from religious perspectives to a more intellectual and social focus. Classical texts previously lost to European scholars became readily available and included science, drama, poetry, prose, philosophy, and new considerations…

From this point-of-view, on Protestant art, the effect of Reformation is a releasing effect, with the former conceptualization into iconic figures of saints and Christ being transformed in the more relaxed imagery of peasants simply enjoying their time together.
On the other hand, Reformation had a different impact on Catholic art. Especially through its Counter-Reformation process, the Catholic Church wanted to impose a continuance of tradition even in terms of culture and art. This obviously meant, among others, a preservation and exacerbation of icon and religious imagery use in everyday paintings.

One good example of this is a painting of the lamentation by Scipione Pulzone. A traditional image in Catholic art, the act seems greatly increased in intensity in Pulzone's case. Despite the portrayal of a town in the background (as was the tradition during the 14th to 16th centuries), this remains not only lost in the background, but almost…

Pasolini's final interviews, before the release of Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom, and prior to his murder, he revealed his thoughts on his work. He simply saw himself as a poet. His most popular essay on the cinema was entitled "Il cinema di poesia." In that essay, he discusses his writings and films and referred to the poetry as inspirations from the paintings of Giotto, Michelangelo, Pontormo, osso Fiorentino, and Masaccio.
His concept of poetry was wide and included all the art forms. Paolini's point-of-view was derived from classical roots such as Aristotle and later, Horace. It was also apart of an Italian idealist philosophical tradition manifested by Benedetto Croce, whose philosophical method influenced every Italian intellectual of Pasolini's generation. These included Pasolini and Antonio Gramsci. The mixture of Marxism and idealist philosophy, coupled with Catholic context, was specific to Italy.

To provide further background, Pasolini studied art…

Artistic works are often referenced in categorized by their particular genre or style. For example, in painting there are a number of different genres such as Abstract, Impressionism, Modernism etc. (Harrison, 2009). The term "history paintings" or sometimes called "historical paintings" refers to a particular genre of painting where the genre is defined by the subject matter as opposed to the artistic style of painting (Wolfflin, 2012). The distinction between "history paintings" and "historical paintings" is a fine one; however, historical paintings are typically considered to be scenes from secular history, whereas history paintings can include depictions from history, mythology, or can simply contain allegorical material. Thus, most of the works of art that would be classified as his store coal paintings most likely are subsets of history; however, history paintings are not limited to the depiction of historical scenes. The term "history painting" has been traced back to the…

From this perspective, luxury brands may be desired be many consumers, but the more affluent are clearly more readily capable of such acquisitions, making them a natural target for luxury brands marketers.
Although there is a growing body of contemporary knowledge concerning the influence of self-perception and self-image on luxury brand purchases, the study of these issues is certainly not new. In fact, as early as 1899, Thorstein Veblen developed a theory according to which consumers use product prices as a means of ostentatiously displaying their wealth (Veblen 1899). Based on the inextricable relationship between the level of consumers' income and the type of goods and services they may desire, it would be reasonable to posit that highly affluent consumers would be a natural market for luxury brand marketers; however, the choice of luxury brands over other brands is a highly complex decision that take into account a wide range…

On the other hand, in Pisano's work, marble lends back to the figures on the pulpit some of its characteristics. This is probably most obvious in some of the virtue figures on the middle level, notably on the figure of Charity. The marble also gives out some of its majesty and monumentality, as can be seen in the case of the figure of Hercules, on the same level.

An important difference between the two works is given by the overall structure. Pisano's pulpit is supported by four slender Corinthian columns, which gives both an architectural perspective to the sculpture, as previously mentioned, as well as a certain slenderness, because the five columns support the structure above it (there is also a central supporting column, but similarly thin). There is, however, an interesting geometric communion between the two parts of the sculpture (columns and pulpit), with each of the points of…

enaissance:
A Comparison between the Italian and Northern European enaissance

World history is a fascinating subject, especially when one takes into account the multi-dimensional, often heavy impact changes that are constantly taking place, and that often change the course of history in a way in which it could have never been imagined. After the Dark Ages, for instance, the enaissance or "rebirth," a period of artistic-related growth across Europe, was one such change that literally pulled Europe out of the deterioration in which it found itself after the fall of the oman Empire, and put it on a path of regrowth that was so replete with creativity that many scholars are still talking about it today. In order to better understand these historical changes, this paper will examine the enaissance, for it was a very complex movement, in order to understand it better, and will do so by comparing the…

Art One-Point Linear Perspective in the enaissance
One-Point Linear Perspective in the enaissance

In the context of art, perspective is generally defined as "… the technique an artist uses to create the illusion of three dimensions on a flat surface" (Essak). Perspective is in essence an illusion of depth and realism in the work of art. It is also an intrinsic part of human evolutionary makeup. As Edgerton ( 2006) states, "

Every human being who has ever lived from Pleistocene times to the present, has experienced in vision the apparent convergence of parallel edges of objects as they extend away from our eyes and seem to come together in a single "vanishing point" on the distant horizon… (Edgerton, 2006)

However, from an art historical perspective it is also true that linear or single-point perspective has not always been an accepted part of painting and artistic creation. It is in…

Saint Francis of Assisi was born at Assisi in Umbria in either 1181 or 1182, the exact year of his birth is uncertain, and died there October 3, 1226 (Saint pp). One of several children, he was born into a wealthy family (Saint pp). His father, Pietro Bernardone, was a successful cloth merchant and his mother, Pica is said to have come from a noble family of Provence (Saint pp). Francis was baptized Giovanni, later however, his father altered his name to Francesco (Saint pp). Francis grew up as a privileged citizen by indulgent parents who satisfied his every whim (Saint pp). He was handsome and gallant and so enjoyed the finer offerings in life that one biographer referred to him as "the very king of frolic" (Saint pp).
Francis was around twenty years of age when he was captured prisoner during a skirmish with the Perugians, and while held…

medieval romance has inspired literature for generations. The magic of the Arthurian romance can be traced to Celtic origins, which adds to it appeal when we look at it through the prism of post-medieval literature. The revival of the medieval romance can be viewed as an opposition against modern and intellectual movement that became vogue in modern Europe. These romances often emphasized the human emotions rather than the human intellect and a return to more classical traditions. Poets and writers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries did not want to feel the oppression from the constraints of their time. Instead, they looked beyond the intellectual to a more mystical and emotional realm. They wanted to achieve another level in their writing -- one that allowed them to stretch their imaginations and their knowledge. The medieval aspects that we find in literature from this era accentuates a different type of thinking…

Charles Van Doren has concluded that the Copernican Revolution is actually the Galilean Revolution because of the scale of change introduced by Galileo's work.
The technological innovation of the Renaissance era started with the invention of the printing press (the Renaissance). Even though the printing press, a mechanical device for printing multiple copies of a text on sheets of paper, was first invented in China, it was reinvented in the West by a German goldsmith and eventual printer, Johann Gutenberg, in the 1450s. Before Gutenberg's invention, each part of metal type for printing presses had to be individually engraved by hand. Gutenberg developed molds that permitted for the mass production of individual pieces of metal type. This permitted a widespread use of movable type, where each character is a separate block, in mirror image, and these blocks are assembled into a frame to form text. Because of his molds, a…

enaissance and Baroque Periods
The term enaissance describes, not only a movement in art, but also a corresponding social and cultural movement that moved through Europe at the conclusion of the Middle Ages. The enaissance period lasted from the 1400s to the 1600s, and spread through most of Europe, though it is probably the most heavily associated with Italy. The term "renaissance" means revival or rebirth, and the enaissance did mark a period of significant cultural revival. In order to truly understand the enaissance, it is important to understand that the Middle Ages, the time period preceding the enaissance was a period of retraction largely due to political instability. However, as Europe emerged from the Middle Ages and became more stable, the surrounding social landscape became supportive of an explosion in the arts and learning. The movement began in Italy in the 1400s and spread into France, northern Europe, and…

Knowledge
Views on the Nature of Knowledge: Social Scientists vs. Natural Scientists

hat is knowledge? A simple question, or so most people would think. Knowledge is the accumulation of information on a given subject or subjects. It is a collection of facts, of things known to be true...or is it? The closer one looks, the more one comes to realize that there are many different approaches to obtaining knowledge, and many different definitions of precisely what constitutes knowledge. One's use of the term varies with one's own background and objectives. To some, knowledge is an absolute, to others; it is that which is gained through long hours of observation and long years of experience. The facts that make up what we call knowledge may be composed of absolutes, or they may be composed of many opinions, opinions that we believe to be most accurate or most correct. But what then…

Cosimo De Medici
e know all about the de Medici family - one of the most important dynastic families in Europe and in particular concerning the cultural and artistic life of Italy and so of the continent. And yet, as Dale Kent makes clear in her authoritative (and fascinating) account of the family and in particular of the life of Cosimo De'Medici, we actually know less about the family than we think. Kent argues that common ideas - and common misconceptions -- about the De'Medicis reflect not only flawed knowledge about this family in particular but also more general flawed assumptions about their era and about prevailing attitudes of the time towards artistic patronage and indeed towards art.

Kent's book is as much an ethnographic exploration of the culture and society of fifteenth-century Florence as it is about Cosimo de'Medici himself - although in her telling the man and the…

enaissance refers to the rebirth and revival of art and architecture in the 15th and 16th centuries in Italy. The enaissance is fascinating to study and is still culturally significant even today because of the high level of artistic and architectural production that was able to be produced during this time. Thus, one of the fundamental reasons as to why this period was significant is directly connected to the fact that the works which were captured during this time continue to captivate the imagination of most people, and continue to impress and amaze. The enaissance is important not just because of the high level and innovation of work that was created, but because it demonstrated a higher level of intellectualism and understanding about the human condition that was manifested through art.
The enaissance is significant today, not merely because of the high level of art that was produced, but because…

Botticelli's Birth Of Venus And Duccio's Maesta
The representation of women in estern art has changed throughout history, and for much of estern history this representation was oriented around the dominant female figure in contemporary society; that is, Mary, mother of Jesus. However, the gradual shift away from a dominantly monotheistic cultural hegemony seen in the Renaissance and eventually the Enlightenment brought with it new (and the case of this study, old) means of representing women beyond the confinements and discourse of the Madonna and Child. By comparing and contrasting Duccio di Buoninsegna's Virgin and Child Enthroned Amidst Angels and Saints (which is the main altarpiece of the artist's Maesta) with Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus, one is able to see how the changing cultural standards which came about during the shift from the conservative, Eastern-influenced Late Gothic art of Duccio to the freer, more naturalistic art of Botticelli's…

Even in Catholic France, the Protestant sentiment that God's grace alone can save His fallen, human creation was evident in the humanist king, Francis I's sister, Margaret, Queen of Navarre's novel when she wrote: "We must humble ourselves, for God does not bestow his graces on men because they are noble or rich; but, according as it pleases his goodness, which regards not the appearance of persons, he chooses whom he will."
Shakespeare's Hamlet is haunted by the ghost of his father from Purgatory. Purgatory was a Catholic concept. But rather than trusting the vision of the divine on earth, Hamlet is suspicious about the ability of fallen human beings to enact justice. Rather than finding good in the face of women, Hamlet sees only evil. "In considering the cultural conditions that allow tragedy to revive, we may also want to consider that the plays occurred in Christian Northern Europe;…

enaissance and early twentieth century art offer an interesting study in comparison because of their distinctive styles. It is the objective of this paper to describe the definitive characteristics of each period through comparing aphael's Alba Madonna to Salvador Dali's The Persistence of Memory.
enaissance art is reputed for the unified balance achieved between pictorial considerations of measurable space and the effects of light and color on the one hand, and the artist's personal expression on the other (Pioch, 2002). This unity is evident in aphael's Alba Madonna, a painting that represents the artist's unique style of sweetness of expression. The painting is remarkable because of the manner in which aphael has succeeded in addressing a serious subject within a backdrop of a serene countryside. Indeed, it can be said that he was able to do this precisely because of the use of symmetry, namely, the round format that succeeds…

Western Art and Christianity
During the past millennium, Western art has been heavily influenced by Christianity. Art is an extension of the many complex thoughts and images that swim within an artist's mind. Because many Western artists have traditionally been raised in a Christian environment, it is difficult for their religious beliefs to be fully separated from their artwork, and oftentimes it is embraced in the works, or a patron has requested it be the specific subject matter. Although this heavy Christian influence would see a swift departure during the Renaissance, it would remain engrained in Western culture until the present day.

The Reformation heralded a swift separation between Christians in Europe, as Roman Catholics and Protestants divided roughly along a North to South split. Protestants seemed to dominate the North while the South remained dominated by Catholic countries. While much of the art in Protestant countries retained a secular…

ransformation of Electronic Billing Systems From Military Use to Public Medical Facilities
he advent of the twenty first century brings with the new dawning a time of extraordinary technological advancement, mega informational system development, and expanded scientific discovery. Without argument, these new developments bring with them an explosion in the informational database that must be reconciled and dealt with. No longer can service organizations and businesses rely on a central data base for gathering storing and retrieving information as these type of systems are unwieldy - and becoming more so. Individuals responsible for budgeting, marketing, invoicing, and consumer demographics are in need of immediate and accurate, ready-to-use, and updated information with respect to services and/or products offered. Unfortunately the healthcare industry has been slow in updating information retrieval systems in keeping with the need for immediate patient information retrieval and the dearth of new information being created.

he majority of…