Baptistery di San Giovanni

c. 1153 CE

Italian, Romanesque Period

Pisa, Italy

--Baptistery = civic and religious functions

--Romanesque on bottom register, Gothic on upper register

--Circular = associated with Death and Burial; idea of baptistery = salvation; circle connects them together

--Has civic funtion also; where you become a citizen of Pisa

Pisa Pulpit

c. 1260

Nicola Pisano

From Baptistery, Pisa, Italy

Italian, Early Renaissance

Marble and Porphyry

Commissioned by Federico Visconti (Archbishop of Pisa)

--Pisa saw self as "the New Rome"

--Trefoil arches

--Virtues = side statues

--Spolia columns = borrowed from ancient architectural structures (different types of porphyry)

--Porphyry = framing upper scenes and THROWBACK TO IMPERIAL ROME

--Foliated Capitals = Medieval Idea; like Corinthian, but more

--Baptismal Font = 8 sides (resurrection)

--Pulpit = 6 sides (Christ's crucifixion)

Nativity and Annunciation

From Pisa Baptistery Pulpit

--Continuous narrative = 4 different narratives

--Annunciation = Gabriel comes to Mary (Top Left)

--Virgin and Christ Child = Christ now born (Middle)

--Shepherds Annunciation (Top Right)

--1st Bathing of Christ (Middle Lower); being bathed in Chalice which was used for Eucharist

--3 sheep and 3 goats (Bottom Right) = curiosity; Sheep = bowing down in unison, Goats = doing their own thing; Sheep = Good, Goats = Bad; Idea of "Alpha and Omega"

Last Judgment

From Pisa Baptistery Pulpit

--Souls on Left (Christ's RIGHT HAND) ascending into Heaven

--Souls on Right (Christ's LEFT HAND) descending into Hell

Phaedra Sarcophagus

3rd Century CE

Roman, Imperial Period

Camposanto, Pisa

--High relief brings images forward; Low relief pushed back

--Goddess Diana = virgin; ties to Virgin Mary being expressed in Pulpit

--Virgin Mary expressed as Roman Goddess

Daniel/Fortitude

From Pisa Baptistery Pulpit

--Daniel = could be Hercules

--Contraposto

--1st Nude representation of male outside of representation of Adam since antiquity

--Referred to as Daniel but Daniel isn't virtue

--Surrounded by lions

--Idealized rep. of male form/heroic

Madonna and Child Enthroned

Cimabue

c. 1285

Italian Gothic

Tempera on panel

--Virgin = seated, MONUMENTAL, carries the weight of the birth of the Christ Child

--Transition between Gothic and Early Italian Renaissance

Story of Cimabue and Giotto

--Cimabue happens upon a shepherd boy drawing on rocks

--Boy was Giotto

--He was burning branches to make charcoal and drawing the sheep he was herding

--FIRST OF RENAISSANCE TO STUDY/NOTICE NATURAL WORLD

--Cimabue taught Giotto to paint because he recognized NATURALISM

Fresco Technique

--Mural Decoration for walls and ceilings; leads to durability

--1. Bare wall

--2. Apply Arriccio (layer of course plaster)

--3. Sketch out design (Sinopia) to make sure scale is right

--4. Apply refined layer of plaster (Intonaco)

--5. Cartoon = full-sized rep. of design on paper; prick outline with holes and "POUNCE" with charcoal; other way is to trace (TRANSFERRING TECHNIQUE)

--6. Apply PIGMENT while plaster is wet; Pigment becomes part of plaster because chemical reactions are happening

--Each section = a GIORNATA (A day's work)

--Buon Fresco = "true fresco" = when paint is added while plaster is wet

--Blue = must be applied "A SECCO" ("on plaster") after the plaster dries because blue doesn't mix well in "buon fresco" technique

--Frescos can be moved

Madonna and Child Enthroned

c. 1310 CE

Giotto

Tempera on panel

Italian, Early Renaissance

--Shading and light used to make representation of Virgin more realistic

Arena Chapel (Scrovegni Chapel)

c. 1305 CE

Giotto

Italian Early Renaissance

Fresco

Padua, Italy

Commissioned by Enrico Scovegni

--Scrovegni family = USURY BUSINESS = money-lending; sin according church; taking advantage of poor; wealthiest in Italy

--Dante's Divin Comedy mentions Reginaldo (Enrico's father) in his 7th Circle of Hell

--Enrico becomes concerned with personal salvation; dedicates chapel to VIRGIN OF CHARITY; trying for atonement

--Chapel needed decorating, so Enrico told the POPE he wanted GIOTTO (painting the triforium in Old St Peter's); shows power of Scrovegni family

--Blue = Lapis Lazuli

--Art centers around Life of the Virgin (MARIAN CYCLE = comes from Apocrypha = Non-canonized books, not word of God, but still stories of divine figures)

Expulsion of Joachim from Temple

From Arena Chapel

--Virgin narrative = divided into 3 registers and 40 scenes

--First scene = South Wall with Expulstion of Joachim from Temple

--Religion requires SACRIFICE and PROCREATION

--Joachim and Anna try to conceive, but are too old; led to Joachim's sacrifice being rejected at the temple

--Frame around this image = forms grid (Rosettes); in center of grid = Child being blessed

--Joachim's expression = hurt, frightened, confused

--Giotto = pure expression of human condition; Psychological Exchange = even lamb looking up at Joachim with confusion

--Again with MONUMENTALITY

--Intuitive Perspective = no physical way to see portrayed image in real life

--Lamb = AGNUS DEI ("LAMB OF GOD")

--Why start here? Because it's about the rejection/expulsion from divine place; parallels Adam and Eve; Virgin REDEEMS expulsion

Meeting at the Golden Gate

--From Arena Chapel

--Scene 6 (last in 1st Register on South Wall)

--Tender/loving embrace between Joachim and Anna (KISS)

--14th Century = 1st visual rep. of husband and wife kissing/1st rep. of kiss in Western Tradition

--Maids in waiting = happily looking on

--Woman in black = not looking at couple; Giotto trying to suggest that with joy and love will come sorrow and death

--South Wall = begins with Expulsion and ends with Reception

Nativity

From Arena Chapel

--Virgin holding child

--Joseph = old and asleep (shows his age and infertility)

--Ox and Ass = Gentiles and Jews

--Virgin's face = stoic; Examining Christ Child; Aware of birth's significance

--Sheep and Goats = black goat like woman in black from "Meeting at the Golden Gate"

--Chancel Arch = rounded instead of squared off (like Triumphal Arch

The Pact of Judas

From Arena Chapel

--Shows Judas betraying Christ FOR MONEY

--Parallels Enrico's profession as a USURE

--Compare to Visitation

The Visitation

From Arena Chapel

--Virgin = pregnant; visits cousin Elizabeth (also pregnant; with John the Baptist)

--John kicks as Christ comes near

--Architecture is the same as in "Pact of Judas"; number of figures is same, but males in "Judas" and females in "Visitation"

--"Visitation" shows redemption of sin through Virgin Mary and then through Christ

--Male and Female distribution = important because of Adam and Eve; sin is committed by the man this time

--The Virgin is shown as the 2nd Eve

The Lamentation

From Arena Chapel

--Lowest Register

--Depicts Christ just after body was taken down from cross

--Virgin's features are completely different from those shown in "Nativity"

--She's aged and has a look of anguish on her face; she's no longer looking at "Christ as Savior" but she is a mother mourning the death of her son

--Idea of Christ being Human AND Divine = expressed through Virgin