art history study

ppt/notesSlides/notesSlide20.xml

After the Sienese won victory over Florence in a battle, they pronounced that the Virgin Mary had sponsored it. She became the patron saint of Siena, thus it was important to venerate (or worship) her in important ways. Here we have a painting that was designed to replace a smaller portrait of Mary. This is the central panel that measures 7 x 13’ the rest of the altarpiece has been dismantled over the years and can only be viewed as individual pieces in museums around the world. It was commissioned for the Siena Cathedral in 1308. This is still very Byzantine as the angels all have certain facial types, and is symmetrical and formal as described by that tradition. The figures are much more relaxed in this work and the four saints in the front have individual faces, even the drapery falls in a more natural way (something that Northern European artists had been doing – attests that there was some dialogue between Italy and the North). As a note, everything outside of Italy is referred to as “the North”. It’s the way art historians distinguish the artistic developments of Italy with the more Gothic traditions of the North.