Italian Painting of the Trecento
Italian Painting of the Trecento: Siena and Florence
Introduction
In most of Europe, Gothic painting manifested in stained glass, book illustration, and altarpieces for churches, given the near disappearance of wall space. However, in Italy, the presence of walls in churches allowed fresco painting to develop significantly, although tempera on panel was also used. Its evolution, from a formal standpoint, closely mirrored that of sculpture, moving towards greater naturalism in the treatment of figures and the introduction of landscape. Although in some cases, colors were blended to create depth and represent space, Italian painters of the 14th century (the Trecento) did not fully achieve this. The Trecento encompasses two main schools: the Sienese, which continued the Byzantine tradition, and the Florentine, which revolutionized painting and anticipated elements of the early Renaissance.
The Sienese School and Simone Martini
Medieval art theory, influenced by the Greek tradition, understood imitation through the lens of Byzantine mosaics, representing icons on gold backgrounds. Sienese painters retained this style but incorporated elements of the Gothic style, which arrived from France through ivory and miniature exports. Thus, their painting, characterized by gold backgrounds in the Greek manner, is more Gothic than the Florentine school, known for its delicacy, elegance, rich colors, and abundance of decorative themes and figures.
Among the prominent Sienese painters are:
- Duccio di Buoninsegna, the founder of the school, whose most important work is the Maestà (painted for the Siena Cathedral). This tempera on panel depicts the Virgin and Child surrounded by angels on one side and scenes from the Passion on the other.
- Simone Martini, who synthesized Byzantine and Gothic elements, creating a precious art characterized by beautiful lines and rich colors. His figures are refined and elegantly rendered, reflecting the importance of decorative elements in his work. They are slender and contoured with a fine black line.
Martini’s early works include the fresco in the Sala del Mappamondo (Hall of the World Map) of the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena, depicting the Maestà , an icon of the Virgin under a canopy surrounded by local saints. Opposite this, he painted the first known portrait in Italian art: the equestrian image of Guidoriccio da Fogliano, who had defended Siena against Lucca. In this fresco, Martini moved away from the Byzantine gold background and introduced landscape and buildings, creating a rudimentary sense of space.
Martini’s masterpiece is the Annunciation altarpiece, originally intended for the Chapel of Sant’Ansano in the Siena Cathedral. It combines the conventional Byzantine gold background with the undulating lines of French Gothic, evident in the refined silhouettes of the angel and Mary. This tempera on panel depicts the scene as described in the Gospel of John (with the Virgin and the angel kneeling), marking the first time this iconographic type was represented and creating a significant impact. The scene is framed by three polylobulated Gothic arches, and the painter attempts to create depth (with the presence of a building in the background) without fully achieving it, resulting in a relatively flat composition.
The Florentine School and Giotto
In Florence, the work of Giotto di Bondone broke with the Greek tradition and ushered in a modern pictorial language. His paintings emphasized plasticity, volume, realism, and the weight of the human figure and landscape. Bondone, a sculptor, painter, and architect, became a precursor to Renaissance painting. His work, influenced by the Franciscan spirit, embraced nature. His figures shed their previous stiffness, acquiring naturalness, expressiveness, individuality, and volume, clothed in tunics.
Giotto’s prestige among the Florentine bourgeoisie led to commissions for decorating funerary chapels in Assisi and Tuscany. In the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, he painted episodes from the life of Christ, depicting individualized characters with expressive faces, exchanging glances and engaging in dramatic gestures. Later, he went to Florence and decorated the tombs of the Bardi and Peruzzi families in the Basilica of Santa Croce. In the Bardi Chapel, he depicted scenes from the life of St. Francis, while in the Peruzzi Chapel, he portrayed scenes from the life of St. John the Baptist.
Giotto also painted on panel, but in this medium, he retained the Byzantine style of the Sienese school and his teacher, Cimabue, as seen in his Madonna Enthroned with Angels. With Giotto, mural painting became an Italian achievement, just as stained glass was a French accomplishment and the altarpiece a Spanish one.