***Thank you to VALERIE WHITE of Vista High School, for all her help.  All APAH content and information made  possible from her hard work.  Also, thank you to Dr. Robert Coad for his guidance and materials.

ARTWORK LIST
Cimabue, Madonna Enthroned with Angels and Prophets
Giotto, Madonna Enthroned
*Martini, Annuncination
​Giotto, The Lamentation
Arena (Scrovegni) Chapel
     Lamentation
     Last Judgment
Duccio, Maesta
​VOCABULARY
​Lamentation
Maniera greca
tempera
trecento

​WHAT IS THE RENAISSANCE?                   
What's a French word doing describing something that happened basically in Italy? That's right, it was a French writer, historian Jules Michelet, who named the Renaissance - well after the fact. In the 1800s, everyone decided that learning had ended at the fall of the Roman Empire and only began again after the so-called Dark Ages, around 1200. They called the new period the Renaissance, meaning rebirth. (Instant Art History, Robinson)


KEY IDEAS
  • This time period is in between Medieval and High Renaissance.
  • Artists receive more recognition and become important historical  figure and names are recorded.
  • Focused on 3 ideals: humanism, secularism, and individualism
  • Greater focus on the natural world rather than the hereafter - Giotto launched the Italian Renaissance by painting people who appeared 3 dimensional rather than flat
  • New intellectual ideals gained focus, especially human experience, manners, and politics (known as the "humane letters" = humanism)

CHARACTERISTICS OF FLORENTINE PAINTING
  • Large scale panels that stand on their own (freeing from the wall)
  • Usually fresco or the use of tempera
  • Cimabue (artist) is influenced by the Byzantine works referred to as maniera greca.
  • Giotto (artist) moved away from tradition and towards reality that anchored figures to ground lines. Figures are often depicted.

CHARACTERISTICS OF SIENESE PAINTING
  • More decorative style and more reminiscent of N. European art.
  • Figures are thinner, elegant, and courtly. 
  • Drapery is less defined, and is more flowing like ripples.
  • Imitates marble patterning on thrones or pavements
  • Figures are more in proportion to each other vs. Hierarchal ordering.
  • Italian altarpieces reflect Gothic Cathedrals. 

HISTORY
  • Humanism (starts as a literary movement in that writers concerned themselves with secular issues). In Northern Europe, Humanism "pagan" Humanism is rejected in favor of a blend of religion and classical literature.
  • Petrarch: Considered the first "modern" writer, he wrote sonnets in Italian, other works in Latin. 
  • Isabelle d'Este (1474-1539) was married to Giovanni Gonzaga, she was an outstanding diplomat and patron of learning. She turned Mantua into the center of learning and thought. Also, an important female patron of the arts.