Following Giotto

Giotto from Bondone(died 1337) or Ambrose, called Giotto, was a Italian painter that has revolutionized the Italian painting, in ascertainment of Cennino Cennini(1370-1410) other Italian painter and author of Book of painting, a technical treaty about the art of painting,  that has synthetically descripted the style of Giotto as: “he has brought the painting from Greek style to Latin”; this is given the tridimensional physicality to figures; it is certainly verifiable to frescos(Figs.1-7), it is more evident in confront of some medieval Byzantine painting(Figs.8-9); but what is influence of Giotto on other painters in Tuscany that has certainly suffered, also long from his laboratory? A case that we can take is Ambrogio Lorenzetti(1290-1348), Italian painter from Siena, that has had influence, modest but present of Giotto, it is enough the confront of faces of some figures(Figs.12-19) and the Christ of kiss of Juda(Fig.16) is to profile very similar to a figure of Ambrogio(Fig.16a), the nose and ear are equal; the female faces are very similar, two Virgins that seem sisters, but Ambrogio evidently has took the face of Giotto from Madonna of Every saints(Fig.18) and has used to his Virgin(Fig.19). The architectures that Giotto has used to his frescos(Figs.27-30) is adopted from Ambrogio to his frescos in Siena(Figs.21-26). Ambrogio  didn’t lost the cloth of Giotto because in his fresco(Fig.31) he has took the softness of Giotto(Fig.1), as the architecture on side of the old figure(Fig.32), that is similar to imprecision and style of Giotto to other architectures in Assisi(Figs.28-29). The old figures also has contributed to influence, because the beard, it seems that during middle age, they have lost the razors(Figs.33-34), the similarity is evident; we must also consider that the artist could not take the decision alone, because the costumer, that paid and the frescos were paid to figures, wanted how much figures and how much the expense, the colors and cost of it; it is as today a producer to a movie that chooses the actors and the cost, in Middle age was not the movie but money yes; therefore who pays orders what is better.

Alessandro Lusana  

  

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