The Madonna and Child

The Italian artist Cimabue created and drew The Virgin and Child Enthroned. Notably, Cimbue, also known as Cenni di Pepo, is recognized as the first painter to depart from the Italo-Byzantine style during the time of medieval art (Boskovits, 2016). In Florence, where he received training in cultural art, he understood the idea of culture as it connected to Byzantine art. He took the idea of naturalism from earlier painters like Nicola Pisano and used it as the foundation for the majority of his paintings. The artist created the Virgin and Child Enthroned, a piece of Maestà art that was on exhibit in Pisa, specifically at the church of Francesco. Conversely, Madonna Enthroned from chiasa di ognissanti re is an art which Giotto di Bandone painted in the period of medieval arts. Giotto’s painting was kept in Uffizi Gallery of Florence, Italy. The paintings describe the Virgin Mary carrying her baby child Jesus Christ. The Virgin Mary is surrounding by the angels and the saints (Edgerton & Loughman, 2015). The two paintings were founded during the Renaissance at the transitional period from Gothic art to naturalism. Similar to Virgin and Child Enthroned, Madonna Enthroned from chiasa di ognissanti re is classified as a Maesta, a popular name representing the medieval period in which arts were painted (Edgerton & Loughman, 2015). The paper compares the Madonna Enthroned and the Virgin and the Child Enthroned, the Maesta paintings created by Giotto and Cimabue respectively.

Virgin and Child Enthroned was painted in the 13th century and dominated the Italian art industry in 1240-1302. The artist intended to challenge the major conventions in the medieval period in relation to natural appearance of the world. Furthermore, the painting represented the core naturalistic and classical tradition (Boskovits, 2016). Cenni di Pepo made the painting in Florence at Benedictine church. The painter employed medieval composition and included gold in the background which demonstrates that he relied on the Byzantine models. Moreover, the painter used gold structures to develop the fold of the Madonna robe (Boskovits, 2016). In addition, Cimabue developed deeper space for the paintings which differentiated Virgin and Child Enthroned from pure Byzantine art.

Conversely, Madonna Enthroned showing Virgin Mary carrying baby Jesus was created at Florence in 1310 and stored in Uffizi Gallery. The painting is of medium size measuring 325cm by 204 cm. The art represents an icon of the Christ Child surrounded by the saints and angels (Edgerton & Loughman, 2015). Similarly, Giotto employed the concept of traditional Italo-Byzantine from the renaissance period. The artist, particularly, developed the paintings to prevent an obscured religious practice known as illuminati.

Notably, Giotto borrowed a number of concepts from frescos and mosaics which were established by the Romans and Early Christians. The Madonna Enthroned is a weighty sculpture which replicates a three-dimensional structure of classical Roman sculpture (Edgerton & Loughman, 2015). The painting has marbled colors which were used in the decoration of the surface. Although Cimabue showed the same subject in his Virgin and Child Enthroned, he deployed more of the Byzantine attributes compared to Giotto paintings Madonna Enthroned. For instance, Cimabue used gold tracing for the delineation of folds in the fabrics (Boskovits, 2016). Conversely, Giotto deployed light, color and shadow to develop more realistic fabric folds.

Furthermore, the two paintings share some structural features. For example, the physical look of the angels’ wings, the feeling of severity, and the forms of spacing are similar. Nevertheless, Giotto used smaller space than Cimabue’s art, thus, illustrating the significance of body balancing in painting (Boskovits, 2016). Notably, Cimabue developed contours of the body around the breasts and on the knees, thus, making the fabric folds visible. Lastly, Giotto employed different ranges of light and dark in the value scale to develop the sense of volume in the Madonna Enthroned (Edgerton & Loughman, 2015). As a result, he created slight smokiness, an attribute used in late Renaissance period.



























References

Boskovits, M. (2016). Enthroned Madonna and Child.

Edgerton, S. Y., & Loughman, T. J. (2015). The Spiritual Space of Piero della Francesca’s Virgin and Child Enthroned with Four Angels: A New Understanding of Its Mysterious Perspective. I Tatti Studies in the Italian Renaissance, 18(1), 33-60.