The Arena Chapel
Padua, Italy c.1305-06
Our first artist from the *Early Renaissance is Giotto, who is credited with "Translating painting from Greek into Latin"... a new outward vision of the world that would replace the Medieval inward vision that stressed not the realities of this world, but a mystical/spirtual world.
The Arena Chapel is located in Padua and was commissioned by Enrico Scrovegni, Padua's wealthiest citizen. The Chapel illustrates the lives of Mary, her parents Anna and Joachim, and Christ.
The combination of Classical restraint and psychological insight in Giotto's frescos may be related to the contemporary revival of Classical drama (Roman theater), and the leisure time to go to them, as well a the traditional Christian mystery plays performed in front of churches. The combination of the two might explain Giotto's psychological depiction of pose and gesture. Regardless of the influences, Giotto's painting in the Arena Chapel will change the course of Italian painting forever.
*Giotto is actually considered a "Proto-Renaissance" artist, but we will classify him with the Early Renaissance for the purpose of this course.
Comparing a Byzantine Crucifixion with Giotto's Arena Chapel Crucifixion
Byzantine Giotto
1. The gold background has disappeared, being replaced by blue sky.
2. The figures are now solid three dimensional forms interacting in a real space. The angels are seen from many different angles; side view, three quarter view, etc. and drawn in correct perspective, which implies studies from nature rather than copying from earlier examples.
3. The very human emotions, which allows the viewer to relate to the scene on a psychological level, opposed to they distance imposed by the Byzantine Crucifixion.
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