GIOTTO di BondoneItalian Early Renaissance Painter, 1267-1337
Italian painter and designer. In his own time and place he had an unrivalled reputation as the best painter and as an innovator, superior to all his predecessors, and he became the first post-Classical artist whose fame extended beyond his lifetime and native city. This was partly the consequence of the rich literary culture of two of the cities where he worked, Padua and Florence. Writing on art in Florence was pioneered by gifted authors and, although not quite art criticism, it involved the comparison of local artists in terms of quality. The most famous single appreciation is found in Dante's verses (Purgatory x) of 1315 or earlier. Exemplifying the transience of fame, first with poets and manuscript illuminators, Dante then remarked that the fame of Cimabue, who had supposed himself to be the leader in painting, had now been displaced by Giotto. Ironically, this text was one factor that forestalled the similar eclipse of Giotto's fame, which was clearly implied by the poet. |
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Last Judgment
Painting ID:: 62966
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Last Judgment
1306 Fresco Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua The ground has opened up and the naked people clamber out of their coffins. Some are still completely occupied with themselves or are helping one another; others have already raised their hands in prayer. They appear as full of hope as the ranks of the Blessed above them. There, men and women, representatives of the secular and the sacred, are accompanied on their ascent by angels. The differently formed, thoroughly individual heads seen in profile, the gazes, the posture of the hands and the whole bodies are focused as if spellbound on the higher goal. Artist: GIOTTO di Bondone Painting Title: Last Judgment (detail) , 1301-1350 Painting Style: Italian , , religious |
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