1000 Portraits of Genius. Victoria Charles
× 22.8 cm. National Gallery, London. Umbrian.
192. Tomb of Henry the Lion and Mathilda of England. St. Blasius Cathedral, Brauschweig. Gothic.
The Brunswick Cathedral was commissioned and built by Henry the Lion from 1173 to 1195 and is dedicated specifically to the Saint Blaise, John the Baptist and Thomas Becket. The cathedral was originally founded as a collegiate church and was consecrated on December 29, 1226. The construction was interrupted numerous times during the various different exiles of Henry the Lion, therefore, he and his second wife Matilda, Duchess of Saxony were buried in an unfinished cathedral. The tomb is located in the nave of the cathedral and the limestone recumbent statues are idealized representations of the king and queen that were created almost half a decade after their deaths between 1230 and 1240.
193. Virgin, c. 1250. Sandstone with paint, height: 148.6 × 47 cm. The Cloisters Collection, New York City. Gothic.
194. Icon of St. George and the Youth of Mytilene, middle of the 13th century. Silver, linen, and tempera on pine, 18.8 × 26.8 cm. The British Museum, London. Byzantine.
195. King on a Horse called “The Bamberg Rider”, first pillar on the northern face of the chancel, before 1237. Stone, height: 233 cm. Bamberg Cathedral, Bamberg. Gothic.
196. Statues of the Founders Ekkehard and Uta, eastern chancel, c. 1260–1270. Naumburg Cathedral, Naumburg. Gothic.
The traces of paint and gilding that survive on this sculpted pair add to their lifelikeness. Count Ekkehard stands proudly, covered by a long cloak and carrying a sword and shield. Countess Uta gazes off in the same direction as Ekkehard, her expression strong and noble. She gathers her cape against her face as if to ward off the cold. Through the drape of the cape, the bend of her arm is visible. Her crown sparkles on her head. The pair is affixed to pillars in a chapel in the choir of the Naumburg Cathedral. Ekkehard and Uta were patrons of the Cathedral who lived in the eleventh century, long before these images were carved. Nevertheless, the sculptures have a remarkably portrait-like quality, suggesting that the sculptor carved them to resemble actual models.
197, 198. Jean de Liège (1361–1381), French, Recumbent Statues of Charles IV the Fair and Jeanne d’Evreux, second half of the 13th century. Marble, 135 × 36 × 16 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris. Gothic.
This pair of effigy statues comes from the Cistercian abbey church of Maubuisson in France. Queen Jeanne d’Evreux commissioned the pieces before her death. The statues are only about half life-size; their small size is due to the type of tomb they surmount. Called an “entrail tomb,” it was designed to hold only the entrails of the king and queen. Each figure is shown holding a small bag that would have contained the entrails. In parts of France, such as Normandy and Ile-de-France, there was a long-standing custom among aristocratic families, especially the Royal Family, to have multiple tombs for different parts of the body. The body would be eviscerated upon death, and the entrails, or heart, would be destined for one tomb, the bones for another.
199. Head of a King from the Old Testament, c. 1230. Fragment of a statue from the façade of Notre-Dame de Paris. Stone, height: 65 cm. Musée national de Moyen Age-Thermes hôtel de Cluny, Paris. Gothic.
200. St. Blaise of Namur, c. 1300. Chased gold statuette, height: 38 cm. Musée Diocésain, Namur. Gothic.
201, 202. Pair of Altar Angels, end of the 13th century. Oak with traces of polychrome, 75 × 17.8 cm. The Cloisters Collection, New York. Gothic.
203. Simone Martini (c. 1284–1344), Italian, Saint Louis of Toulouse, c. 1317. Tempera on wood, 250 × 188 cm. Museo e Gallerie Nazionali di Capodimonte, Naples. Late Medieval.
204. Simone Martini (c. 1284–1344), Italian, Madonna of the Misericordia, 13th century. Tempera on wood, 154 × 84 cm. Pinacoteca, Siena. Late Medieval.
Simone Martini
(1284 Siena – 1344 Avignon)
A Sienese painter, he was a student of Duccio. Influenced by his master and by the sculptures of Giovanni Pisano, he was even more influenced by French Gothic art. First painting in Sienna, he worked as a court painter for the French Kingdom in Naples where he started to incorporate non-religious characters in his paintings. Then he worked in Assisi and Florence where he painted with his brother-in-law Lippo Memmi.
In 1340-41 Simone Martini went to Avignon in France, where he met Petrarch, illustrating a Virgil codex for him. His last works were created in Avignon where he died. Simone Martini gave a great sweetness to his religious compositions while, at the same time, he was the first who dared to employ his art for purposes not wholly religious.
205. Cenni di Pepo (also called Cimabue) (1240–1302),
Italian, The Madonna and Child in Majesty
Surrounded by Angels, c. 1280. Tempera on wood panel,
4.27 × 2.8 m. Musée du Louvre, Paris. Late Medieval.
Cimabue (Cenni di Pepo)
(C.1240 FLORENCE – 1302 PISA)
After learning the art of making mosaics in Florence, Cimabue developed in the medieval Byzantine style, advancing towards more realism. He became the first Florentine master. Some of his works were monumental. His most famous student was Giotto. He painted several versions of the Maestà, “majesty, enthroned in glory”, traditionally referring to Mary in setting, that show some human emotions, such as Madonna and Child Enthroned with Angels and Prophets.
206. Franciscan Crib with the Madonna del Latte (detail), 14th century. Fresco. Santuario di S. Francesco, Greccio.
207. Peasant on a Horse (sculpture from The Twelve Month Cycle), c. 13th or 14th century. Stone. Baptistery of Parma, Parma. Romanesque.
208. Giotto di Bondone (1267–1337), Italian, Faith, c. 1305. Fresco, Cappella Santa Maria dell’Arena, Padua. Late Medieval.
Giotto di Bondone
(1267 VESPIGNANO – 1337 FLORENCE)
His full name was Ambrogiotto di Bondone, but he is known today, as he was in his own time, by the contraction, Giotto, a word which has come to stand for almost all the great things that art has accomplished. In his own day Giotto’s fame as a painter was supreme; he had numerous followers, and these Giotteschi, as they were styled, perpetuated his methods for nearly a hundred years. In 1334, he designed the beautiful Campanile (bell tower), which stands beside the cathedral in Florence, and represents a perfect union of strength and elegance, and was partly erected in his lifetime. Moreover, the sculptured reliefs which decorate its lower part were all from his designs, though he lived to execute only two of them. Inspired by French Gothic sculpture, he abandoned the stiff presentations of the subjects as in Byzantine styles and advanced art towards more realistic presentation of contemporary figures and scenes so as to be more narrative. His breakthrough influenced subsequent development in Italian art. His significant departure from past presentations of the Maestà,