Italian painting around 1280 still followed the Byzantine "Greek manner": flat, gold-ground, long-faced figures, like the icons you met in Icons. Then a Florentine painter, Giotto di Bondone (about 1267 to 1337), began painting figures that look solid and heavy, standing on the ground in real space and showing real feeling. Writers from Dante to Vasari praised him as the painter who brought painting back to nature.
His masterpiece is the Arena Chapel (also called the Scrovegni Chapel) in Padua, painted about 1303 to 1305 for the banker Enrico Scrovegni. Its walls hold a cycle of true frescoes in rows, telling the stories of Mary's parents, of Mary and of Christ, under a vault painted deep blue with gold stars.
Looking closely: Joachim among the Shepherds. Joachim, Mary's father, has been turned away from the temple, and he comes to his shepherds in shame. He is a block of pink cloak, heavy and still, his head bowed; we feel his weight on the ground. The two shepherds look at each other, not at him: an awkward moment we all know. Only the little dog jumps up in welcome. The setting is simple: a rocky ledge, a few trees, a hut, a flock, and a blue sky instead of gold. There is no clutter; every shape helps tell the feeling.
Key idea
Why it works
Worked example: Byzantine or Giotto?
- Gold ground and frontal, stacked figures belong to the Byzantine tradition.
- A real sky, a ground to stand on, and figures relating to each other are Giotto's innovations.
Answer: The second.
Common mistake