Painting of the Week - The Lamentation of Christ by Giotto

Giotto de Bondone, The Lamentation of Christ (Fresco number 36, Scenes from the Life of Christ 20), 1304-06
Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, Padua, Italy
(Image Source)

Since I've been struggling for subjects to cover, I will be covering key pieces of the Early Italian Renaissance for the next few weeks. Giotto (1267 – 1337) was active nearly a century before the Early Renaissance and other than influencing artists of the later Renaissance, most notably Michelangelo, as an artist he is recognised as a huge turning point. Giotto's fresco cycle in the Scrovegni/Arena Chapel in Padua is considered one of the earliest masterpieces and most important works in Renaissance Art.

It might not seem that fantastic now, but his paintings was a huge break from his contemporaries, moving away from Byzantine style art towards a more naturalistic depiction of characters. In Lamentation we see not only the emotional sorrow of Mary and the various saints crowded around Christ's body but also that of the angels, some of whom are physically contorted in despair. In addition, Giotto has modelled his figures to be recognised as multi-dimensional solid beings as seen in the shadows of their drapery which falls in a realistic manner from their limbs and the attempt at foreshortening on the saint with dramatically outstretched arms.

You can imagine the effect of being confronted with such drama in a painting and how that would influence art for centuries to come.