Gothic Painting
Artistic Movements, Periods and Styles in 5 Points
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Gothic Painting
- Predominant style in the last centuries of the Middle Ages (from the 12th to the 15th centuries), when life revolved around God and the Church (“theocentrism,” God at the center). It is a time when painting is still functional to religion: art told biblical stories when almost nobody knew how to read (and the printing press had not yet been invented, so there were almost no books).
- The works had a mystical character (related to the divine) and were eminently Christian. The interesting thing is that religious characters such as saints, angels, Christ, the Virgin, began (slowly) to be interpreted in a more human than divine version, showing emotions: pain, anger, tenderness, pleasure. Something that makes us think of the Renaissance that was about to arrive.
- Painting began to improve little by little in search of a faithful imitation of nature (which was the ideal of the Renaissance).
- Despite this, we can still appreciate the elongated human figure, without the correct proportions, and it is too repetitive (observe how the faces are repeated in the saints of this painting).
- The use of perspective began to develop, and this is important for the history of painting. However, it was not yet considered crucial, and it was used randomly. On the other hand, when it was used, it was not convincing, it was not used well.
Representative artists: Cimabue, Duccio, Gaddi, Gentile da Fabriano, Della Quercia.
Image: La Maestà (1308-1311). Duccio.
Recommended links:
Artistic Movements from Classical Antiquity to Rococo.
Characteristic Elements of Gothic Painting.
Characteristic Elements of the Painting of the Flemish Primitives.
Characteristic Elements of Renaissance Painting.
Fra Angelico and the Early Renaissance.
The Stanze of Raphael and the High Renaissance.
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