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Europe 1300 - 1800
Course: Europe 1300 - 1800 > Unit 2
Lesson 3: Siena, the Late Gothic- Siena in the Late Gothic, an introduction
- Duccio, Maestà
- Duccio, Maestà (quiz)
- Duccio, The Rucellai Madonna
- Duccio, Rucellai Madonna (quiz)
- Duccio, The Virgin and Child with Saints Dominic and Aurea
- Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Palazzo Pubblico frescos: Allegory and effect of good and bad government
- Lorenzetti, Allegory and Effect of Good and Bad Government (quiz)
- Lorenzetti, Presentation of Jesus in the Temple
- Pietro Lorenzetti, Birth of the Virgin
- Simone Martini, Saint Louis of Toulouse
- Simone Martini, Maesta
- Simone Martini, Annunciation
- Simone Martini's Annunciation (quiz)
- Siena in the 1300s
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Lorenzetti, Presentation of Jesus in the Temple
Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, 1342, tempera on panel, 257 x 168 cm (Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence). Created by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker.
Want to join the conversation?
- What does Dr. Harris mean by the incorrect use of linear perspective in this painting? What makes it incorrect? What would a proper use of linear perspective look like by contrast?(23 votes)
- Linear perspective, the spatial construction wherein all floor lines and object scales point toward a focus at eye level in the center of the picture is widely explored at a later khan vid here http://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-history/art-history-1400-1500-renaissance-in-italy-and-the-north/v/linear-perspective--brunelleschi-s-experiement(5 votes)
- Why is religious art so prevalent during this time period?(17 votes)
- Truly, mostly, it was that they were given commissions by the church. In this time period, artists were considered craftsmen, first and foremost. The idea of painting something because it was important to the artist was pretty much nonexistent; You paint what people want to buy. Churches were far and away the biggest commissioners of art, and art was a mandatory addition to a church; Many people were illiterate and the images were an important part of a religious education. The wealthy often had their own private chapels which they would deck out with religious artistic work, or commissioned pieces to give as gifts to the church to gain favor with god.(6 votes)
- What is the text that Anna the Seer is holding? What does it say?(6 votes)
- I love how Jesus is actually acting like a baby and putting his hand in his mouth (). I've never given it thought and was surprised by this. Why is baby Jesus never allowed to be shown acting like a baby? 0:43(4 votes)
- One possible reason/interpretation could be that it would have been depicting him on a far too human/earthly level -- when he is actually supposed to be the son of God/God and more divine.
Children make mistakes, throw tantrums, scream, cry, need their nappies changed, need to be fed, need to be cared for, disciplined, taught etc and Christ is/was supposed to be perfect even from infancy.(5 votes)
- The video states that the scene is of the Circumcision of Christ. This is a common confusion but the Circumcision and the Presentation in the Temple are two DIFFERENT events. The circumcision occurred when Christ was eight days old. The Presentation, also known as the Purification of Mary, took place 40 days after his birth on Feb. 2 when Mary goes to the temple to be purified according to Jewish law. This was the occasion when the Holy Family encountered Simeon and Anna, and this is what Lorenzetti depicted. The scene of the Circumcision of Christ was more rarely represented in this period.(5 votes)
- Kudos to your Sunday school teacher. You have your stories straight.(4 votes)
- Why does Jesus have to be circumsized?(4 votes)
- Jesus was Jewish, not Christian.(4 votes)
- It is said that there is a picture of Christ on the ceiling along with two angels.If Christ was a child at that time, how did they know that he was going to be the supreme god even before he was born, so that they painted him on the church ceiling?(1 vote)
- The painting is not about history, but an attempt to put a lot of different messages in one place.(2 votes)
- atwhose the solder on the top right 0:54(1 vote)
- According to Wikipedia, the "soldier" is a representation of Joshua, the figure on the top left is Moses with the Ten Commandments.(2 votes)
- This video - and others on the Late Gothic painters - mentions that the artist is moving towards using linear perspective. Since the more realistic portrayal of this religious scene makes it easier for fourteenth century Siennese citizens to relate to the action and theme of the painting (), am I right in assuming that there is a sense of appreciation attached to noticing that the painter starts to use linear perspective? Are renaissance painters thus more skilled or 'better' than Late Gothic painters? I feel that it is unfair and untrue to say so, but I am unable to say why exactly. Simply put: if the aim was to create a more realistic scene, why not 'go all the way'? 2:05(1 vote)
- why is Christ shown in the mandorla?(1 vote)
- Because he's Christ. "A mandorla is an aureola, usually in the shape of a vesica piscis, which surrounds the figures of Christ and the Virgin Mary in traditional Christian art."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandorla(1 vote)
Video transcript
DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: We're
in the Uffizi in Florence, and we're looking at Ambrogio
Lorenzetti's "Presentation in the Temple." Now, Ambrogio Lorenzetti
was one of two brothers. The other was Pietro Lorenzetti. And they were both students
of the great early Siennese master, Duccio. This is one of Ambrogio
Lorenzetti's most important paintings. And it tells the story early
in the New Testament narrative of Christ being brought to
the temple to be circumcised. This is the moment when
Simeon is presenting Christ to the temple and
Anna, the seer, is recognizing Christ as the
Redeemer and points him out. What I find so
interesting is that, whereas Christ is so often
represented as all-knowing even as an infant, here, he
really looks like an infant. DR. BETH HARRIS: He is, and
he's putting his fingers in his mouth. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: It's hard
to miss the beautiful emphasis on architecture. And this is something that
Ambrogio often emphasizes. Look at the Gothic
characteristics of this church. This panel was originally
intended for the Duomo in Sienna. And so it would itself have been
this great Gothic environment. But look at the way in which
we look back towards the apse, through this nave. There's all this fabulous
emphasis on these vaguely Corinthian columns and lots
of paint on the ceiling. For instance, we can see
a Christ in the mandorla with angels. We can see ribbed
vaults, which actually have painted gold stars
against a blue ground, very much like we would expect
to see in a 14th century church. DR. BETH HARRIS: And we
have an illusion of space. If we look down at the
floor, we see diagonal lines that appear to
recede into space, although this is not correct
use of linear perspective. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: It's not. But it is an attempt to
create a sense of recession. Just look at the
capitals and the way they allow our eye to move
back slowly but deliberately into space as one space
opens up into another. And there is mystery and drama. And what's so
interesting is that we see this wonderful
transhistorical representation of Christ, this ancient figure,
in a modern Gothic environment, wonderfully aligning the
past and the present. DR. BETH HARRIS: So
in some way, that would have made a Siennese
person in the 1300s really be able to relate
to what was going on here. DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: I
think that that's right, making this ancient
scene immediate.